Crommelin (lunar crater)
Lunar impact crater
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Crommelin is an ancient lunar impact crater that is located in the vicinity of the south pole of the Moon, on the far side.[3] It lies within the South Pole-Aitken basin, to the north of the large crater Zeeman, and to the east-northeast of Numerov. To the north of Crommelin is Lemaître.[4]
Clementine mosaic | |
| Coordinates | 68.1°S 146.9°W |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 93.48 km (58.09 mi)[1] |
| Depth | Unknown |
| Colongitude | 152° at sunrise |
| Formation | Pre-Nectarian[2] |
| Eponym | Andrew C. D. Crommelin |
On the lunar geologic timescale, Crommelin dates to the Pre-Nectarian period.[2] This formation has been almost completely degraded by subsequent impacts, leaving little more than a crater-riddled depression in the surface. There is an equally worn crater lying across the northern rim, and Crommelin X is attached to the outward-bulging northwest perimeter.[5]: 142
The largest of the craterlets within the interior form a pair near the southern rim. There is a slight central peak, consisting of little more than a low rise in the surface. The spectra of the central peak fits an olivine-bearing gabbroic norite mineralogy, which was excavated from a depth of 3.5 to 9.4 km.[6]
This crater is named after British astronomer Andrew C. D. Crommelin (1865–1939), an expert on comets (1865-1939).[7] Its designation was formally adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1970.[1]