Galilaei (lunar crater)
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| Crater characteristics | |
| Coordinates | 10.5° N, 62.7° W |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 15.5 km |
| Depth | 1.4 km |
| Colongitude | 63° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Galileo Galilei |
Galilaei is a lunar impact crater located in the western Oceanus Procellarum. Some distance to the southeast is Reiner crater, while to the south-southwest is Cavalerius crater. Northeast of the crater is a meandering rille named the Rima Galilaei. To the southeast is the unusual Reiner Gamma formation, a swirling arrangement of light-hued ray-like material.
The Galilaei crater is relatively undistinguished, with a sharp-edged rim that has a higher albedo than the surrounding maria. The inner walls slope down to a ring of debris on the outer edges of the interior floor. There is a small central rise near the mid-point.
About 40 kilometers to the south is the landing site of the Luna 9 robotic probe, the first such vehicle to make a controlled landing on the lunar surface.
Despite being the first person to record astronomical observations of the moon with a telescope, Galileo Galilei is honored only with this unremarkable formation. The crater was named by Giovanni Battista Riccioli, an Italian Jesuit who produced one of the first maps of the moon in 1651. This map contained one of the first systems of nomenclature for identifying lunar features, and many of the names are still in use today. However Riccioli was an opponent of the Copernican system of a heliocentric solar system, a theory that Galileo advocated. As a result, this insignificant crater was selected by Riccioli to bear Galileo's name. Strangely, however, Copernicus himself was honored with one of the largest and most dramatic craters on the Moon.
[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 Galilaei crater.
| Galilaei | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 11.7° N | 62.9° W | 11 km |
| B | 11.4° N | 67.6° W | 15 km |
| D | 8.7° N | 62.7° W | 1 km |
| E | 14.0° N | 61.8° W | 7 km |
| F | 12.3° N | 66.2° W | 3 km |
| G | 12.7° N | 67.1° W | 1 km |
| H | 11.5° N | 68.7° W | 7 km |
| J | 13.0° N | 61.9° W | 4 km |
| K | 13.0° N | 62.7° W | 3 km |
| L | 13.2° N | 58.5° W | 3 km |
| M | 13.3° N | 56.8° W | 3 km |
| S | 15.4° N | 64.7° W | 2 km |
| T | 16.2° N | 61.4° W | 2 km |
| V | 17.1° N | 60.3° W | 3 km |
| W | 17.8° N | 60.5° W | 4 km |
[edit] References
- Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A., (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
- Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
- Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2.
- Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 0-936389-27-3.
- 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.
- Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-304-35469-4.
- Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521335000.
- Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-913135-17-8.
- Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes, 6th revision, Dover. ISBN 0-486-20917-2.
- Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62248-4.
- Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 1852331933.
