![Aristarchus crater hrp162](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Aristarchus_crater_hrp162.jpg)
Aristarchus is a
lunar
Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon".
Lunar may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games
* "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta
* "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...
impact crater that lies in the northwest part of the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
's near side. It is considered the brightest of the large formations on the lunar surface, with an
albedo
Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of sunlight, solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body ...
nearly double that of most lunar features. The feature is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye, and displays unusually bright features when viewed through a large
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
. It is also readily identified when most of the
lunar surface is illuminated by
earthshine. The crater is deeper than the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...
.
The crater is named after the Greek astronomer
Aristarchus of Samos
Aristarchus of Samos (; grc-gre, Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σάμιος, ''Aristarkhos ho Samios''; ) was an ancient Greek astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or ...
. It is located at the southeastern edge of the Aristarchus plateau, an elevated area that contains a number of volcanic features, such as sinuous
rilles
Rille (German for 'groove') is typically used to describe any of the long, narrow depressions in the surface of the Moon that resemble channels. The Latin term is ''rima'', plural ''rimae''. Typically, a rille can be several kilometers wid ...
. This area is also noted for the large number of reported
transient lunar phenomena, as well as recent emissions of
radon
Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...
gas as measured by the
Lunar Prospector
''Lunar Prospector'' was the third mission selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, ...
spacecraft.
Selenography
![Location of lunar aristarchus crater](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Location_of_lunar_aristarchus_crater.jpg)
Aristarchus is located on the Aristarchus plateau, an elevated rocky rise in the midst of the
Oceanus Procellarum, a large expanse of
lunar mare. This is a tilted crustal block, about 200 km across, that rises to a maximum elevation of 2 km above the mare in the southeastern section.
Aristarchus is just to the east of the crater
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
and the
Vallis Schröteri
Schroter's Valley, frequently known by the Latinized name Vallis Schröteri, is a sinuous valley or rille on the surface of the near side of the Moon. It is located on a rise of continental ground, sometimes called the Aristarchus plateau, that ...
, and south of a system of narrow sinuous
rilles named
Rimae Aristarchus
The ''Rimea Aristarchus'' is a system of narrow sinuous rille
Rille (German for 'groove') is typically used to describe any of the long, narrow depressions in the surface of the Moon that resemble channels. The Latin term is ''rima'', plu ...
.
Aristarchus is bright because it is a relatively young formation, approximately 450 million years old, and the
solar wind has not yet had time to darken the excavated material by the process of
space weathering. The impact occurred following the creation of the ray crater
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...
, but before the appearance of
Tycho. Due to its prominent rays, Aristarchus is mapped as part of the
Copernican System.
The brightest feature of this crater is the steep central peak. Sections of the interior floor appear relatively level, but
Lunar Orbiter
The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five uncrewed lunar orbiter missions launched by the United States from 1966 through 1967. Intended to help select Apollo landing sites by mapping the Moon's surface, they provided the first photographs ...
photograph
A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...
s reveal the surface is covered in many small hills, streaky gouges, and some minor fractures. The crater has a terraced outer wall, roughly or
polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
al in shape, and covered in a bright blanket of ejecta. These spread out into bright
rays to the south and south-east, suggesting that Aristarchus was most likely formed by an oblique impact from the northeast, and their composition includes material from both the Aristarchus plateau and the
lunar mare.
In November 2011, the
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions t ...
passed over the crater, which spans almost 25 miles (40 kilometers) and sinks more than 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) deep. "The Aristarchus plateau is one of the most geologically diverse places on the moon: a mysterious raised flat plateau, a giant rille carved by enormous outpourings of lava, fields of explosive volcanic ash, and all surrounded by massive flood basalts," said Mark Robinson, principal investigator of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera at
Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. NASA released photos of the crater on December 25, 2011.
Remote sensing
In 1911, Professor
Robert W. Wood
Robert Williams Wood (May 2, 1868 – August 11, 1955) was an American physicist and inventor who made pivotal contributions to the field of optics. He pioneered infrared and ultraviolet photography. Wood's patents and theoretical work inform ...
used
ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
to take images of the crater area. He discovered the plateau had an anomalous appearance in the ultraviolet, and an area to the north appeared to give indications of a
sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
deposit.
This colorful area is sometimes referred to as "Wood's Spot", an alternative name for the Aristarchus plateau.
![Aristarchus hst](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Aristarchus_hst.jpg)
Spectra taken of this crater during the
Clementine mission
''Clementine'' (officially called the Deep Space Program Science Experiment (DSPSE)) was a joint space project between the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (previously the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization) and NASA, launched ...
were used to perform
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
mapping.
The data indicated that the central peak is a type of rock called
anorthosite, which is a slow-cooling form of
igneous
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
rock composed of
plagioclase
Plagioclase is a series of tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continuous solid solution series, more prope ...
feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...
. By contrast the outer wall is
troctolite
Troctolite (from Greek τρώκτης 'trout' and λίθος 'stone') is a mafic intrusive rock type. It consists essentially of major but variable amounts of olivine and calcic plagioclase along with minor pyroxene. It is an olivine-rich anorth ...
, a rock composed of equal parts
plagioclase
Plagioclase is a series of tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continuous solid solution series, more prope ...
and
olivine
The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle, it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers quickl ...
.
The Aristarchus region was part of a
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...
study in 2005 that was investigating the presence of
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
-rich glassy soils in the form of the mineral
ilmenite. Baseline measurements were made of the
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...
and
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...
landing sites, where the chemistry is known, and these were compared to Aristarchus. The Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys was used to photograph the crater in visual and
ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
light. The crater was determined to have especially rich concentrations of ilmenite, a
titanium oxide mineral that could potentially be used in the future by a
lunar settlement for extracting oxygen.
Transient lunar phenomena
The region of the Aristarchus plateau has been the site of many reported
transient lunar phenomena, with a total of 122 such reports by 2007; the highest recorded for any lunar feature.
Such events include temporary obscurations and colorations of the surface, and catalogues of these show that more than one-third of the most reliable spottings come from this locale.
In 1971 when
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...
passed 110 kilometers above the Aristarchus plateau, a significant rise in
alpha particle
Alpha particles, also called alpha rays or alpha radiation, consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium-4 nucleus. They are generally produced in the process of alpha decay, but may also be produce ...
s was detected. These particles are believed to be caused by the decay of
radon-222, a
radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...
gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
with a
half-life
Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...
of only 3.8 days. The
Lunar Prospector
''Lunar Prospector'' was the third mission selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, ...
mission later confirmed radon-222 emissions from this crater. These observations could be explained by either the slow and visually imperceptible diffusion of gas to the surface, or by discrete explosive events.
One of the oldest reports of transient lunar phenomena in Aristarchus is an observation made by
Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers on 5 February 1821. Contemporary
Henry Kater publicly believed that this and other events were due to volcanic activity on the Moon, a belief not so confidently shared by Olbers, who believed it explainable in a manner "more consistent with what we know of the physical construction of the moon."
Names
Aristarchus is named after the Greek astronomer
Aristarchus of Samos
Aristarchus of Samos (; grc-gre, Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ Σάμιος, ''Aristarkhos ho Samios''; ) was an ancient Greek astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or ...
. Like many of the craters on the Moon's near side, it was given its name by
Giovanni Riccioli, whose 1651 nomenclature system became standardized in 1935. Earlier lunar cartographers had given the feature different names.
Michael van Langren's 1645 map calls it "Balthasaris Hispa. Pri." after
Balthazar Charles, then the
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
to the kingdoms of Spain. And
Johannes Hevelius called it "
Mons Porphyrites" after the mountains near
Olbia, Egypt. A particular region of very low ultraviolet
albedo
Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of sunlight, solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body ...
is called Wood's Spot after its discoverer,
Robert W. Wood
Robert Williams Wood (May 2, 1868 – August 11, 1955) was an American physicist and inventor who made pivotal contributions to the field of optics. He pioneered infrared and ultraviolet photography. Wood's patents and theoretical work inform ...
.
Satellite craters
![Aristarchus satellite craters](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Aristarchus_satellite_craters.jpg)
Surrounding Aristarchus are several smaller craters, many of which are probably
secondary craters. Secondary craters form when large blocks ejected from the primary crater reimpact the surface at high velocities. By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing a letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to the primary crater.
The following craters have been renamed by the
IAU
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...
.
* Aristarchus A — ''See''
Väisälä.
* Aristarchus C — ''See''
Toscanelli
Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli (1397 – 10 May 1482) was an Italian mathematician, astronomer,, pp. 333–335 and cosmographer.
Life
Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli was born in Florence, the son of the physician Domenico Toscanelli. There is no ...
.
File:Aristarchus F crater 5194 med.jpg, Aristarchus F ( Lunar Orbiter 5 image)
See also
*
Apollo 18
*
Human Lunar Return study
NASA began its "Human Lunar Return study" in September 1995 to identify ways it could conduct future human spaceflight missions to the Moon. The final Human Lunar Return (HLR) briefing took place on August 7, 1996. The study was seen as laying "the ...
References
Sources
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External links
*
Lunar Orbiter 5 acquired high-resolution images of Aristarchus
Frame 194Frame 196Frame 198 an
Frame 200*
*
*
Impact craters on the Moon
{{Craters on the Moon: A–B