Dyson 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 ...
, 63 kilometers in diameter, that lies on the
far side
''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surrealis ...
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 ...
, past the northwest limb. It is located in the northern part of the surface, to the northwest of the crater
Coulomb
The coulomb (symbol: C) is the unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI).
In the present version of the SI it is equal to the electric charge delivered by a 1 ampere constant current in 1 second and to elementary char ...
, and east of
van't Hoff.
The most unusual aspect of this crater is the asymmetry of the inner wall. To the northeast the rim is low and the inner wall is quite narrow, almost non-existent. This portion of the rim overlies the interior of an unnamed depression in the surface; most likely a damaged crater. In the remaining arc between the eastern rim clockwise to the north, the inner wall is much wider. As a result, the level inner floor is offset toward the northeast. The interior has a central peak located near the midpoint of the crater, then forming a linear ridge that continues until it reaches the western inner wall. The floor is otherwise nearly featureless, except for a few tiny craterlets.
The rim and inner wall have been somewhat worn by impact erosion, but are not overlaid by any impacts of significance. The small crater Dyson X is attached to the exterior of the rim along the north-northwest side. A smaller crater is nearly attached to the southwest rim, and this also lies along the northeast rim of the large satellite crater Dyson Q, a heavily eroded formation. A cluster of tiny craters is attached to the southeast rim of Dyson.
Dyson lies at the approximate margin of the
Coulomb-Sarton Basin
The Coulomb-Sarton Basin is a Pre-Nectarian impact basin on the far side of the moon. It is named after the crater Coulomb northeast of the center of the basin and the smaller crater Sarton just south of the center. The basin is not obvious o ...
, a 530 km wide impact crater of
Pre-Nectarian
The pre-Nectarian period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 4.533 billion years ago (the time of the initial formation of the Moon) to 3.920 billion years ago, when the Nectaris Basin was formed by a large impact. It is followed by the Necta ...
age.
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 Dyson.
See also
*
1241 Dysona, asteroid
References
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Impact craters on the Moon
{{Craters on the Moon: C-F