Deluc 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 An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters ...

that lies in the southern highlands 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 ...

. It is located to the south-southeast of the crater Maginus, and the huge

Clavius Christopher Clavius, SJ (25 March 1538 – 6 February 1612) was a Jesuit German mathematician, head of mathematicians at the Collegio Romano, and astronomer who was a member of the Vatican commission that accepted the proposed calendar inve ...

. Due east of Deluc is the somewhat larger crater Lilius. It is 47 kilometers in diameter and 3.3 kilometers deep. It is from the Pre-Imbrian period, which lasted from 4.55 to 3.85 billion years ago.''Autostar Suite Astronomer Edition''. CD-ROM. Meade, April 2006. This is a relatively worn formation with the satellite crater Deluc H intruding into the northeast rim. A triangular bulge of material covers the floor from the rim of this intruding crater to near the midpoint of the interior. The small craterlet Deluc T is attached to the southern outer rim of Deluc, and joins it to the small Deluc D to the south. The remaining rim of Deluc is not quite circular, having a slight outward bulge to the northwest. The interior is worn and smoothed from a history of tiny impacts, although the edge is still well-defined. There is a tiny craterlet in the northeast part of the interior, but most of the remainder of the floor is level and marked only by tiny impacts. The crater is named for

Jean-André Deluc Jean-André Deluc or de Luc (8 February 1727 – 7 November 1817) was a Swiss geologist, natural philosopher and meteorologist. He also devised measuring instruments. Biography Jean-André Deluc was born in Geneva. His family had come to the ...

, an 18th-century

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

geologist and physicist.

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 Deluc.

References

Impact craters on the Moon {{Craters on the Moon: C-F