Challis (crater)

Challis is a lunar impact crater that is located in the northern regions of the Moon's near side, close enough to the limb to appear significantly foreshortened when viewed from the Earth. It is joined to the crater Main through a break in the northern rim, and is close to Scoresby along the southeast side.

Challis

Lunar Orbiter 4 image (Main above center, Challis below center)
Coordinates	79°30′N 9°12′E / 79.5°N 9.2°E / 79.5; 9.2
Diameter	56 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	355° at sunrise
Eponym	James Challis

Location of the crater Challis

The rim of this crater has been damaged and eroded by a history of impacts, with the most intact portion located along the southeastern half. A small crater lies across the southern rim, and the remaining rim is notched and irregular. The interior floor of both Challis and Main have been resurfaced forming a relatively level bottom common to both formations. This surface is marked only by multiple tiny craterlets.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Challis.

Challis	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	77.2° N	2.3° E	32 km

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 2007-08-05.
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 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 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855.
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.

 

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