Mercator (crater)

Mercator is a lunar impact crater that is located on the southwestern edge of Mare Nubium, in the southwest part of the Moon. It was named after 16th-century Southern Dutch cartographer Gerardus Mercator.^[1] It is located to the southeast of the crater Campanus, and the two are separated by a narrow, winding valley.

Mercator

Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	29°15′S 26°07′W / 29.25°S 26.11°W / -29.25; -26.11
Diameter	46.32 km
Depth	1.8 km
Colongitude	26° at sunrise
Eponym	Gerardus Mercator

The Rupes Mercator fault is tangential with the northeastern outer rim of Mercator. The eastern edge of Palus Epidemiarum reaches the west rim of Mercator, and a rille from the Rimae Ramsden reaches the western rim at the site of the craterlet Mercator C.

The rim of Mercator is only somewhat eroded, and several tiny craters lie on the west and eastern rims. The interior floor has been flooded by lava in the past, leaving a relatively smooth and featureless surface.

Mercator is a crater of Nectarian age.^[2]

Satellite craters

 

Mercator and its 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 Mercator.

Mercator	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	30.6° S	27.8° W	9 km
B	29.1° S	25.1° W	8 km
C	29.1° S	26.9° W	8 km
D	29.3° S	25.3° W	7 km
E	30.0° S	26.8° W	5 km
F	29.6° S	26.8° W	4 km
G	31.1° S	25.0° W	14 km
K	30.6° S	22.7° W	4 km
L	30.7° S	23.5° W	4 km
M	30.2° S	23.6° W	4 km

References

1. "Mercator (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
2. The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 9-4.

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• 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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