Desargues (crater)
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| Crater characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Selenographic coordinates>Coordinates | |
| Diameter | 85 km |
| Crater depth>Depth | Unknown |
| Selenographic colongitude>Colongitude | 77° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Gerard Desargues |
This formation has been significantly eroded and degraded with the passage of time, leaving a low, irregular rim that has been reshaped by subsequent impacts. The rim has a notable bulge to the northeast, and a lesser bulge along the southern rim. The later remains as an imprint of a ghost-crater in the surface that overlays the southern rim, and leaves a remnant of its northern rim in the crater floor.
The bulge to the northeast has left a remnant of its origin in the crater floor, as a series of low hills extending from the north and southeast. These enclose the northeastern third of the floor, and are suggestive of an overlapping crater formation. This crater is overlaid in turn by a pair of craters that lie across the eastern rim.
The floor of the crater is level and has most likely been resurfaced by subsequent lava flows, or by fallback and ejecta deposits. This wiped away much of the original structure of the interior, leaving ridges and traces where once lay crater rims. Other lesser craters intrude into the rim, with 'Desargues M' forming a bulge into the southern rim and 'Desargues A' overlaying the northern rim.
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 Desargues crater.
| Desargues | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 71.4° N | 75.3° W | 30 km |
| B | 70.7° N | 65.0° W | 50 km |
| C | 69.7° N | 78.4° W | 12 km |
| D | 69.3° N | 69.6° W | 11 km |
| E | 70.2° N | 67.4° W | 31 km |
| K | 68.5° N | 67.2° W | 10 km |
| L | 69.6° N | 82.2° W | 13 km |
| M | 68.4° N | 73.9° W | 30 km |
References
- See the reference table for the general listing of literature and web sites that were used in the compilation of this page.
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