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Aratus crater from Apollo 15 '' NASA photo''
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236
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N
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45
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E
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106 km
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19 km
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356
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is a small
Lunar Impact Crater located on the highland to the south and east of the rugged
Montes Apenninus range. It is a circular, cup-shaped crater formation with a relatively high
Albedo . To the east is the
Mare Serenitatis , and to the southwest is the somewhat larger
Conon Crater . North-northeast of Aratus crater is the landing site of the
Apollo 15 mission, just beyond
Mons Hadley Delta .
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 Aratus crater.
The following craters have been renamed by the
IAU .
This three-pronged feature is located in western Mare Serenitatis. It is formed from a merged group of depressions in the lunar surface, and may be a volcanic vent. The dimensions are 9.5 km × 3 km, and it is an estimated 0.4 km deep.
The three elongated depressions have been given individual names:
Two small craters in the vicinity of Aratus CA have also been assigned names:
"Manuel" is just beyond the eastern tip of "Vallis Krishna", while "Yoshi" is just beyond the western tip of "Vallis Christel". "Manuel" is very difficult to see, even on high resolution photos.
The five names listed above first appeared on the Defense Mapping Agency's Topophotomaps 42A4/S1 and 42A4/S2 and were approved by the IAU in 1976. Because of a ban on the use of lettered crater names that was in effect at the time those maps were prepared, "Aratus CA" was given the provisional new name "Lorca". The name "Lorca" was never approved by the IAU, despite notations to the contrary on Defense Mapping Agency maps LM-41 and LM-42, and the former name "Aratus CA" (which had first appeared on LAC-42, published in 1965 ) was officially re-adopted by the IAU in 2006.
Running to the north from this location is a
Wrinkle-ridge in the surface that has been designated ''Dorsum Owen''. To the east is a longer, parallel wrinkle-ridge named ''Dorsum von Cotta''. Further to the north-northeast is
Linné Crater , surrounded by a bright skirt of high
Albedo material. About the same distance to the southwest is the
Montes Haemus mountain range at the edge of the
Lunar Mare .
The
Selenographic Colongitude of this grouping at dawn is 349°
photo''. The rift near the mid-point is at selenographic coordinates 24.5° N, 11.2° E, and occupies a diameter of about 9 km.]]
