Vitello (crater)

Vitello
	Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	30°25′S 37°33′W / 30.42°S 37.55°W
Diameter	42.51 km (26.41 mi)
Depth	1.7 km (1.1 mi)
Colongitude	37° at sunrise
Eponym	Vitello

Vitello is a lunar impact crater that lies along the southern edge of the small Mare Humorum, in the southwest part of the Moon's near side. It was named after 13th century Polish theologian and physicist Vitello.^[2] T. W. Webb notes it "is almost unique in having, within a second concentric rampart, a central peak overlooking the whole ring".^[3] This crater lies just to the east of the lava-flooded crater Lee. To the northeast along the edge of the lunar mare is the Rupes Kelvin, an irregular fault line.

Description

On the lunar geologic timescale, Vitello dates from the Early (Lower) Imbrian period.^[4] This crater has a low, roughly circular rim with a sharp edge. The interior floor is irregular, rugged and hilly, with a ring of deep fractures surrounding the central peak. These cracks make it a floor-fractured crater.^[5]^[6] The infrared spectrum of pure crystalline plagioclase has been identified on the central peak and floor.^[7] A low ridge projects out from the northwest rim into the mare. Sites within and around the crater appear rich in the mineral ilmenite, particularly to the west of the rim.^[8]

Vitello was once believed to be a caldera rather than an impact crater. In To A Rocky Moon, lunar geologist Don Wilhelms summarized: It "is a Saari-Shorthill infrared hotspot,^[9] is fractured, and is blanketed and surrounded by a dark deposit. If there is a caldera on the moon, this ought to be it." However, Lunar Orbiter 5 acquired high-resolution images of the interior and geologists noted that the fractures were filled with boulders which caused the infrared anomaly, and so volcanic heat was not escaping from Vitello. Wilhelms concluded "...if it is a caldera, its activity expired long ago."^[10]

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 Vitello.

Vitello	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	34.1° S	41.9° W	21 km
B	31.1° S	35.4° W	11 km
C	32.4° S	42.5° W	14 km
D	33.2° S	41.0° W	18 km
E	29.2° S	35.8° W	7 km
G	32.3° S	37.6° W	10 km
H	32.8° S	43.0° W	12 km
K	31.9° S	37.6° W	13 km
L	31.6° S	35.3° W	7 km
M	32.4° S	36.0° W	7 km
N	32.1° S	36.1° W	5 km
P	31.2° S	38.4° W	9 km
R	33.0° S	37.0° W	3 km
S	30.8° S	35.2° W	6 km
T	33.8° S	39.6° W	9 km
X	32.2° S	40.6° W	8 km

References

↑ Pike, R. J. (September 1976). "Crater Dimensions from Apollo Data and Supplemental Sources". The Moon. 15 (3–4): 463–477. Bibcode:1976Moon...15..463P. doi:10.1007/BF00562253.
↑ "Vitello (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
↑ Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. pp. 137, 154–159. Reprint: ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3
↑ Purohit, Suchit; et al. (October 10, 2018). "Automatic crater classification framework based on shape parameters". Current Science. 115 (7). Current Science Association: 1351–1358. JSTOR 26978409.
↑ Wilhelms, Don E.; McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. (1987). The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. doi:10.3133/pp1348. Table 9-3.
↑ Jozwiak, Lauren M.; et al. (November 2012). "Lunar floor-fractured craters: Classification, distribution, origin and implications for magmatism and shallow crustal structure". Journal of Geophysical Research. 117 (E11) E11005. Bibcode:2012JGRE..11711005J. doi:10.1029/2012JE004134. hdl:1721.1/85651.
↑ Donaldson Hanna, K. L.; et al. (July 2014). "Global assessment of pure crystalline plagioclase across the Moon and implications for the evolution of the primary crust". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 119 (7): 1516–1545. Bibcode:2014JGRE..119.1516D. doi:10.1002/2013JE004476.
↑ Yamamoto, Satoru; et al. (March 2025). "Global Distribution and Geological Features of Ilmenite-Rich Sites on the Lunar Surface". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 130 (3). 2024JE008663. Bibcode:2025JGRE..13008663Y. doi:10.1029/2024JE008663.
↑ Shorthill, R. W.; Saari, J. M. (1966). "Recent discovery of hot spots on the lunar surface - a brief report of infrared measurements on the eclipsed Moon". In Hess, W. N.; Menzel, D. H.; O'Keefe, J. A. (eds.). The nature of the lunar surface - Proceedings of the 1965 IAU-NASA symposium. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 215–228. Bibcode:1965nls..conf..215S.
↑ Wilhelms, Don E. (1993). To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1065-8.

Sources

Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Archived from the original on 2012-02-08. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855.
Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.

External links

Lunar Orbiter 5 images of Vitello, including high-resolution frames of interior
"Downhill Creep or Flow?". Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA. 4 April 2013. Includes high-resolution view of the interior of Vitello
"Pattern of dark deposits". Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA. 1 September 2011. Includes high-resolution view of the interior of Vitello

[Pike_1976-1] Pike, R. J. (September 1976). "Crater Dimensions from Apollo Data and Supplemental Sources". The Moon. 15 (3–4): 463–477. Bibcode:1976Moon...15..463P. doi:10.1007/BF00562253.

[2] "Vitello (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.

[Webb_1962-3] Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. pp. 137, 154–159. Reprint: ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3

[Purohit_et_al_2018-4] Purohit, Suchit; et al. (October 10, 2018). "Automatic crater classification framework based on shape parameters". Current Science. 115 (7). Current Science Association: 1351–1358. JSTOR 26978409.

[Wilhelms_et_al_1987-5] Wilhelms, Don E.; McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. (1987). The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. doi:10.3133/pp1348. Table 9-3.

[Jozwiak_et_al_2012-6] Jozwiak, Lauren M.; et al. (November 2012). "Lunar floor-fractured craters: Classification, distribution, origin and implications for magmatism and shallow crustal structure". Journal of Geophysical Research. 117 (E11) E11005. Bibcode:2012JGRE..11711005J. doi:10.1029/2012JE004134. hdl:1721.1/85651.

[Donaldson_Hanna_et_al_2014-7] Donaldson Hanna, K. L.; et al. (July 2014). "Global assessment of pure crystalline plagioclase across the Moon and implications for the evolution of the primary crust". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 119 (7): 1516–1545. Bibcode:2014JGRE..119.1516D. doi:10.1002/2013JE004476.

[Yamamoto_et_al_2025-8] Yamamoto, Satoru; et al. (March 2025). "Global Distribution and Geological Features of Ilmenite-Rich Sites on the Lunar Surface". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 130 (3). 2024JE008663. Bibcode:2025JGRE..13008663Y. doi:10.1029/2024JE008663.

[Shorthill_et_al_1965-9] Shorthill, R. W.; Saari, J. M. (1966). "Recent discovery of hot spots on the lunar surface - a brief report of infrared measurements on the eclipsed Moon". In Hess, W. N.; Menzel, D. H.; O'Keefe, J. A. (eds.). The nature of the lunar surface - Proceedings of the 1965 IAU-NASA symposium. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 215–228. Bibcode:1965nls..conf..215S.

[Wilhelms_1993-10] Wilhelms, Don E. (1993). To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1065-8.

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