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Schiller (crater)

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Schiller
Diameter179 × 71 km
Depth3.9 km
Colongitude39° at sunrise
EponymJulius Schiller
Another Lunar Orbiter 4 image (black lines are artifact of image reprocessing)

Schiller is an oddly shaped lunar impact crater located in the southwestern sector of the Moon. To the east is the crater Bayer and to the southeast is Rost.

The rim of Schiller has an elongated shape that is amplified by its proximity to the lunar limb. The long axis lies along a line running northwest–southeast, with the wider girth located in the southeastern half. There is a slight bend in the elongation, with the concave side facing to the northeast. Schiller appears to be a fusion of two or more craters and bears a superficial resemblance to the footprint left by a shoe.

The crater rim is well-defined, with a terraced inner wall and a slight outer rampart. At the southeastern end, a smaller crater is connected to Schiller by a wide valley. Most of the crater floor is flat, most likely due to lava flooding. There are some bright patches that are most clearly visible under a high sun angle. A double ridge lies along the center of the northwest crater floor, forming a nearly linear formation that divides the floor in half.

To the southwest of Schiller is the Schiller-Zucchius Basin, a Pre-Nectarian basin (multi-ringed impact structure).[1] This basin has received the unofficial designation 'Schiller Annular Plain' among lunar observers.[citation needed]

Views from Earth

References

  1. ^ The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348, Chapter 8. (online)
  • Wood, Chuck (2005-03-26). "A Long Crater". Lunar Photo of the Day. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
  • Wood, Chuck (May 19, 2007). "Lavaflow Over a Low Nose?". Lunar Photo of the Day. Retrieved 2007-05-21.