Kiess 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 ...

next to the southern border of the

Mare Smythii Mare Smythii (Latin for "Smyth's Sea") is a lunar mare located along the equator on the easternmost edge of the Moon's near side. It is named for the 19th-century British astronomer William Henry Smyth. The Smythii basin where the mare is located ...

, near the eastern limb 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 east of the crater Kästner, and to the north of Dale and Kreiken. The interior floor of this crater has been flooded by

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 narrow rim above the surface. This surface has a low

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 ...

, and is as dark as the neighboring mare. There is a break in the northeastern rim of Kiess where the crater is nearly attached to the somewhat smaller Widmannstätten, another flooded formation. The overall shape of the rim is slightly elongated in longitude, but it is not overlaid by other craters of note. There are a low ridges on the western interior floor that are concentric to the inner wall. The craters Kiess and Widmannstätten were referred to as ''Wright Brothers'', such as by the crew of Apollo 17, prior to being officially named by the IAU in 1973.Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN
KiessWidmannstätten
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References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{cite book , first = Peter T. , last = Wlasuk , date = 2000 , title = Observing the Moon , publisher = Springer , isbn = 978-1-85233-193-1 Impact craters on the Moon

See also

References