Hall 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 ...
in the southeast part of the
Lacus Somniorum
Lacus Somniorum (Latin ''somniōrum'', "Lake of Dreams") is a basaltic plain located in the northeastern part of the Moon's near side. It is located at selenographic coordinates 37.56° N, 30.8° E, and has a diameter of 424.76 kilometers. The n ...
, a
lunar mare
The lunar maria (; singular: mare ) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient asteroid impacts on the far side on the Moon that triggered volcanic activity on the opposite (near) side. They were dubbed , Latin for 'seas' ...
in the northeast 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 ...
. It was named after American astronomer
Asaph Hall
Asaph Hall III (October 15, 1829 – November 22, 1907) was an American astronomer who is best known for having discovered the two moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos, in 1877. He determined the orbits of satellites of other planets and of double ...
.
This feature can be found to the east of the prominent walled plain
Posidonius
Posidonius (; grc-gre, wikt:Ποσειδώνιος, Ποσειδώνιος , "of Poseidon") "of Apamea (Syria), Apameia" (ὁ Ἀπαμεύς) or "of Rhodes" (ὁ Ῥόδιος) (), was a Greeks, Greek politician, astronomer, astrologer, geog ...
. Just to the south, and nearly attached to the southern rim of Hall is the smaller crater
G. Bond.
This crater formation has been significantly disintegrated by smaller impacts around the outer rim, leaving a wall that is deeply notched and incised. There is a gap in the western rim through which the interior has been flooded and resurfaced by layers of
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
ic
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
. Thus all that remains of the original crater is an irregular, crescent-shaped formation along the southern edge of the Lacus Somniorum. The southern rim is attached to the rough terrain to the south of the mare, and the irregular satellite crater G. Bond G is attached to the southeast rim.
Passing across the open mouth of this crater is the
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'', plural ''rimae''. Typically, a rille can be several kilometers wid ...
named Rima G. Bond (after the nearby crater), a wide cleft in the surface of the mare. This feature begins to the north of Hall and travels to the south-southwest, gradually bending back to the south-southeast. It passes through a section of raised terrain along the southern edge of the mare, and this rise joins the southern rim of Hall and encloses G. Bond.
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 Hall.
References
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{{Commons category, Hall (crater)
Impact craters on the Moon