Kunowsky is a small

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 crater ...

on the

Mare Insularum Mare Insularum (Latin ''īnsulārum'', the "sea of islands") is a lunar mare located in the Insularum basin just south of the western Mare Imbrium. The basin material is of the Lower Imbrian epoch, with the mare material of the Upper Imbrian epo ...

, in the western half 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 named after the German astronomer

Georg Karl Friedrich Kunowsky Georg Karl Friedrich Kunowsky (3 March 1786 –23 December 1846) was a German lawyer who was also a talented amateur astronomer. He made observations of Mars with an 11 cm achromatic refractor telescope made by Joseph von Fraunhofer, ...

. It lies about one third the distance from

Encke Encke may refer to: *Johann Franz Encke (1791–1865), a nineteenth-century German astronomer ** Encke (crater), a lunar crater ** Encke Division, a dark gap in the rings of Saturn **Comet Encke, a short-period comet ***Encke (horse) (2009–2014) ...

to the west-northwest and Lansberg to the east-southeast. This formation is surrounded by

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' ...

, and the interior has been flooded by

basalt Basalt (; ) is an 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 surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

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 ...

, leaving only a roughly circular rim projecting above the surface. The rim is slender and sharp-edged, with no significant erosion. Apart from a tiny craterlet at the midpoint of the interior floor, this crater has no other significant features. It does lie in a region of the mare where

rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

from the craters

Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...

to the northwest and

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 ...

farther to the northeast.

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 Kunowsky.

External links

Lunar Orbiter 1 The 1966 Lunar Orbiter 1 robotic spacecraft mission, part of NASA's Lunar Orbiter program, was the first American spacecraft to orbit the Moon. It was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verifica ...

imag
150
showing Kunowsky G and H craters

References

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