Dawson (crater)

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Crater characteristics
Coordinates	67.4° S, 134.7° W
Diameter	45 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	137° at sunrise
Eponym	Bernhard H. Dawson

Dawson is a lunar impact crater that lies on the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It lies across a crater triplet: the southeast rim is intruding into Alekhin crater; the northwest rim is also intruding into the larger satellite crater 'Dawson V', and the northeast rim is attached to the comparably-sized 'Dawson D'. To the south of this formation is the large Zeeman crater. West of Dawson is the Crommelin crater, and to the north lies Fizeau crater.

The Dawson crater is a relatively young formation that lies in the midst of a field of ancient, heavily eroded craters. The outer rim is nearly circular, but slightly distorted due to the craters it overlaps. The western rim is slightly flattened where it overlaps 'Dawson V'. The crater formation shows little appearance of wear, with only a small craterlet across the northwest rim and another inside the northeast rim. The interior is irregular with some slight terraces along parts of the inner wall.

[edit] Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater mid-point that is closest to Dawson crater.

Dawson	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
D	66.6° S	131.7° W	39 km
V	66.6° S	137.0° W	58 km

[edit] References

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• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
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• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). Lunar Nomenclature. Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved on 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: 136. 
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• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 1852331933.