Newton (lunar crater)

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Crater characteristics
Coordinates	76.7° S, 16.9° W
Diameter	79 km
Depth	6.1 km
Colongitude	18° at sunrise
Eponym	Isaac Newton

Newton is a lunar crater located near the south limb of the Moon. It is south-southwest of Moretus crater. To the northeast is Short crater, and in the northeast are the Casatus and Klaproth craters. Because of its location, the crater appears highly oblong due to foreshortening. It is considered the deepest crater on the near side of the Moon.

The interior of the Newton is a picture in contrasts. The southern end has been covered, possibly by lava flows or ejecta, leaving a relatively flat surface that is marked only by tiny craters and a slight wrinkle-ridge down the middle. The northern half is rugged and irregular, with the satellite crater 'Newton D' overlaying the north-northeastern rim and extending across nearly half the crater diameter.

The rim in the south is relatively low and narrow, with the smaller crater 'Newton G' partly overlaid and flooded by lava. This adjacent crater forms a step up from the interior of Newton crater, and there is a tiny rille in the south floor of Newton where it appears as if a channel flowed down the side from 'Newton G'. The other parts of the outer crater wall are much wider than in the south end, particularly in the areas adjacent to 'Newton D'.

[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 Newton crater.

Newton	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	79.7° S	19.7° W	64 km
B	81.1° S	15.4° W	44 km
C	74.8° S	14.4° W	35 km
D	75.9° S	14.8° W	37 km
E	79.8° S	36.9° W	17 km
F	72.2° S	16.1° W	7 km
G	78.2° S	18.3° W	67 km

[edit] References

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• 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.
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• 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.