Kinau (crater)
| Diameter | 42 km |
|---|---|
| Depth | 2.0 km |
| Colongitude | 346° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Adolph Gottfried Kinau[1] |
Kinau is a small, eroded lunar crater that is located in the low southern latitudes of the Moon. It lies to the southeast of the crater Jacobi, and about equally far to the north-northwest of Pentland. It is 42 kilometers in diameter and two kilometers deep. It may be from the Pre-Nectarian period, 4.55 to 3.85 billion years ago.[1]
The northwestern rim and inner wall of this crater has been heavily damaged by impacts, and is overlaid by a pair of small, cup-shaped craters. The remainder of the rim is worn and somewhat distorted into a hexagonal shape, with several small craterlets along the rim edge. The inner walls are relatively low, and the interior floor is almost featureless except for a few tiny craterlets. There is a low rise near the midpoint that is attached to the small crater to the northwest.[2]
The crater is named after 19th century German priest, teacher and amateur astronomer Adolph Gottfried Kinau.[3]
Satellite craters
By convention these features are identified on Lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Kinau.[4]
| Kinau | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 62.1° S | 20.0° E | 35 km |
| B | 61.6° S | 19.2° E | 8 km |
| C | 60.6° S | 20.5° E | 30 km |
| D | 60.6° S | 18.5° E | 27 km |
| E | 60.1° S | 20.0° E | 7 km |
| F | 62.1° S | 13.5° E | 10 km |
| G | 61.5° S | 12.7° E | 25 km |
| H | 59.8° S | 19.7° E | 6 km |
| J | 59.6° S | 16.0° E | 5 km |
| K | 58.6° S | 18.1° E | 10 km |
| L | 59.3° S | 18.8° E | 11 km |
| M | 60.4° S | 14.3° E | 12 km |
| N | 61.4° S | 15.5° E | 7 km |
| P | 61.4° S | 17.4° E | 5 km |
| Q | 62.4° S | 21.1° E | 11 km |
| R | 59.9° S | 11.6° E | 61 km |
Notes
- ^ The botanist C.A. Kinau was struck from the official list of the USGS in April 2007 and replaced by the correct eponym Adolph Gottfried Kinau.[3]
References
- ^ Autostar Suite Astronomer Edition. CD-ROM. Meade, April 2006.
- ^ Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-913135-17-8.
- ^ a b R.A. Garfinkle and B. Pfeiffer: "Discovery of the real person behind the name of the lunar crater Kinau", Journal of the British Astronomical Association 117 (2007) 81
- ^ Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2.