Mare Nectaris (Latin ''nectaris'', the "Sea of Nectar") is a small
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' ...
or sea (a volcanic lava plain noticeably darker than the rest 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 surface) located south of
Mare Tranquillitatis
Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin ''tranquillitātis'', the Sea of Tranquillity or Sea of Tranquility; see spelling differences) is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. It is the first location on another world to be ...
southwest of
Mare Fecunditatis
Mare Fecunditatis (Latin ''fēcunditātis'', the "Sea of Fecundity" or "Sea of Fertility") is a lunar mare in the eastern half of the visible Moon. The mare has a maximum diameter of 840 km.
__NOTOC__ Description
The Fecunditatis basin forme ...
, on the near side of the moon.
Montes Pyrenaeus borders the mare to the east and
Sinus Asperitatis
Sinus Asperitatis (Latin ''sinus asperitātis'' "Bay of Roughness") is an area of lunar mare that extends southward from the Mare Tranquillitatis until it joins the Mare Nectaris to the southeast. It is bordered along the western and eastern sid ...
fuses to its northwestern edge. It is 84,000 square kilometers in size.
[
Several large craters are situated at the borders of Mare Nectaris. The biggest one is lava-filled Fracastorius (124 km), which fuses with southern coast of the Sea. A prominent trio of 100-km craters ]Theophilus
Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...
, Cyrillus
Cyrillus, Greek jurist of the 5th century, was a professor in the ancient Law School of Berytus (present-day Beirut), and one of the founders of the oecumenical school of jurists (τῆς οἰκουμένης διδάσκαλοι). This school p ...
and Catharina Catharina is a feminine given name, the Dutch and Swedish spelling of the name Catherine. In the Netherlands, people use a great number of short forms in daily life, including ''Carine'', ''Catelijne'', ''Cato'', ''Ina'', ''Ineke'', ''Kaat'', ''Kaat ...
is located near northwestern coast. Other notable feature is a "ghost crater
A palimpsest , in planetary astronomy, is an ancient crater that has been degraded over time. They may also be referred to as "ghost craters", "degraded craters", "buried craters", or "pathological craters". Palimpsests have been identified on ...
" Daguerre
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( , ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photo ...
, almost entirely covered with lava, in the northern part of Mare Nectaris.[
Mare Nectaris is located in the central part of 860-km-diameter ]impact basin
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 ...
, which was formed 3.8–3.9 billion years ago. This event marks the beginning of Nectarian
The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 3920 million years ago to 3850 million years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris for ...
period of the lunar geologic timescale.[ The best-preserved part of the rim of this basin is called ]Rupes Altai
Rupes Altai is an escarpment in the lunar surface that is located in the southeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side. It is named for the Altai Mountains in Asia, and is the most prominent lunar escarpment. The selenographic coordinates of this ...
, in the southwest part of the basin.
Lava filling of Mare Nectaris is younger than the basin itself. The mare material is approximately 1000m in depth, and mainly of the Nectarian
The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 3920 million years ago to 3850 million years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris for ...
period and the Lower Imbrian
The Imbrian is a lunar geologic period divided into two epochs, the Early and Late.
Early Imbrian
In the lunar geologic timescale, the Early Imbrian epoch occurred from 3,850 million years ago to about 3,800 million years ago. It overlaps the en ...
epoch, with the mare material of the Upper Imbrian
The Imbrian is a lunar geologic period divided into two epochs, the Early and Late.
Early Imbrian
In the lunar geologic timescale, the Early Imbrian epoch occurred from 3,850 million years ago to about 3,800 million years ago. It overlaps the en ...
epoch. The crater Theophilus
Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...
on the northeastern side of the mare is of the Eratosthenian
The Eratosthenian period in the lunar geologic timescale runs from 3,200 million years ago to 1,100 million years ago. It is named after the crater Eratosthenes, which displays characteristics typical of craters of this age, including a surface ...
period. Thus, the crater is younger than the mare to its southeast. Enough subsidence has occurred to open a few arcuate graben
In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults.
Etymology
''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic contex ...
s on the western margin of the mare.
A mass concentration (mascon), or gravitational high, was identified in the center of Mare Nectaris from Doppler tracking of the five Lunar Orbiter
The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five uncrewed lunar orbiter missions launched by the United States from 1966 through 1967. Intended to help select Apollo landing sites by mapping the Moon's surface, they provided the first photographs ...
spacecraft in 1968. The mascon was confirmed and mapped at higher resolution with later orbiters such as Lunar Prospector
''Lunar Prospector'' was the third mission selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, ...
and GRAIL
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program which used high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraf ...
.
File:Mare Nectaris (LRO).png, Basin of Mare Nectaris ( LRO image mosaic). Rupes Altai
Rupes Altai is an escarpment in the lunar surface that is located in the southeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side. It is named for the Altai Mountains in Asia, and is the most prominent lunar escarpment. The selenographic coordinates of this ...
is a thin bright streak in the lower left
File:Mare Nectaris (GLD100).jpg, Topographic map of the same area ( LRO data)
File:Nectaris basin GRAIL gravity.jpg, Gravity map based on GRAIL
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program which used high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraf ...
File:Mare Nectaris AS11-42-6241.jpg, Oblique view facing southeast, from Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...
. The large crater right of center is Theophilus
Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...
, and Mädler is to its left. Fracastorius is near the central horizon, and the white mountain on the horizon at right is part of the Rupes Altai. The teardrop-shaped crater in the lower left is Torricelli.
See also
*Volcanism on the Moon
Volcanism on the Moon is represented by the presence of volcanoes, pyroclastic deposits and vast lava plains on the lunar surface. The volcanoes are typically in the form of small domes and cones that form large volcanic complexes and isolated ed ...
References
{{Lunar maria
Nectaris
Nectaris
Nectaris