Gerasimovich 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 ...

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 ...

. It lies beyond the western limb, to the west-northwest of the immense

Mare Orientale Mare Orientale (Latin ''orientāle'', the "eastern sea") is a lunar mare. It is located on the western border of the near side and far side of the Moon, and is difficult to see from an Earthbound perspective. Images from spacecraft have reveale ...

impact basin. The outer blanket of ejecta from this impact reaches nearly to the rim of Gerasimovich. Nearby craters of note include Houzeau to the north and the smaller Ellerman to the southeast. The outer rim of this crater is worn and eroded, with a perimeter that has been modified and reshaped by nearby impacts. The much younger crater Gerasimovich D lies across the northeastern rim, and lies near the center of a poorly organized blanket of higher

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 ...

deposits. Just to the west-southwest of the outer rim is the young, sharp-rimmed crater Gerasimovich R. The interior floor of Gerasimovich is irregular near the edges, and is marked by several small craterlets. Gerasimovich is located at the antipode of the

Mare Crisium Mare Crisium (Latin ''crisium'', the "Sea of Crises") is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. The basin is of the Pre-Imbrian period, 4.55 to 3.85 billion years ago. Characteristics Mare Cri ...

impact basin.

Magnetism

Gerasimovich is home a powerful magnetic anomaly. This an area of the Moon that contains an unusually strong, localised magnetic field on a body that lacks a global dipole like that of the Earth. As such, the crater hosts an enigmatic feature known as a lunar swirl, an area of unusually high

but no corresponding difference in topography, i.e., it is brighter than the surrounding terrain but is not higher or lower than that terrain. It is thought that the high albedo is a result of this localised magnetic field. On Earth, radiation is deflected by the global magnetic field and attenuated by the atmosphere. The Moon however lacks both of these things and radiation, unimpeded, will darken the surface over time. It is thought then that a localised magnetic field will create a 'mini-magnetosphere', having locally the same effect as a global field might. This protection means that the surface at Gerasimovich is optically youthful compared to the surrounding landscape, which is what is seen as lunar swirls.

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 Gerasimovich.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Impact craters on the Moon

Magnetism

Satellite craters

See also

References