Taruntius 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 northwestern edge 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 ...

. It was named after ancient Roman philosopher, mathematician and astrologer Lucius Tarutius Firmanus. To the northwest is the

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 ...

-flooded crater

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, and to the north lie the craters

Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' *Watts family, six chara ...

and

da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

Description

The surface about Taruntius has an unusual number of ghost craters and lava-flooded features, especially to the southwest in the Mare Fecunditatis. The outer rim of Taruntius is shallow, but forms a veined, complex rampart in the nearby mare, especially to the north and southwest. The rim is broken in the northwest by the small crater Cameron. The inner rim face lacks

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

s, but in the interior is an unusual concentric inner rim that is heavily worn and irregular. This is a floor-fractured crater, possibly created by an uplift of mare material from beneath the interior. There is a low central peak complex in the middle of the relatively flat interior floor. There are also some slender

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 ...

s that are concentric to the rim. The crater has a pair of faint dark patches. One patch is located just south of the central peak and the other falls on the sides of the northern rim near Cameron. These were likely created by deposits of volcanic ash from small vents. Taruntius has a

ray system A ray system comprises radial streaks of fine '' ejecta'' thrown out during the formation of an impact crater, looking somewhat like many thin spokes coming from the hub of a wheel. The rays may extend for lengths up to several times the diameter ...

with a radius of over 300 kilometers. Due to these rays, Taruntius is mapped as part of the Copernican System.The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J.

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

Professional Paper: 1348. Plate 11: Copernican System
online
Taruntius lunar crater map

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 Taruntius. The following craters have been renamed by the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

. * Taruntius A — ''See'' Asada crater. * Taruntius C — ''See'' Cameron crater. * Taruntius D — ''See'' Watts crater. * Taruntius E — ''See'' Zähringer crater. * Taruntius G — ''See'' Anville crater. * Taruntius M — ''See'' Lawrence crater. * Taruntius N — ''See'' Smithson crater. File:Taruntius F crater AS15-M-2127.jpg, Taruntius F from Apollo 15 File:Taruntius F crater as10-34-5145.jpg, Taruntius F from Apollo 10 File:Taruntius F crater 1041 med.jpg, Taruntius F from

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 ...

File:Taruntius H crater AS15-M-2120.jpg, Taruntius H from Apollo 15 File:Taruntius H crater as10-34-5136.jpg, Taruntius H from Apollo 10 File:Taruntius H crater AS10-29-4254HR.jpg, Taruntius H from Apollo 10 File:AS11-42-6301.jpg, Taruntius O from Apollo 11 File:Taruntius K and P craters 5038 med.jpg, Taruntius K (right) and P (left) from

Lunar Orbiter 5 Lunar Orbiter 5, the last of the "Lunar Orbiter series", was designed to take additional Apollo and Surveyor landing site photography and to take broad survey images of unphotographed parts of the Moon's far side. It was also equipped to collec ...

References

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External links

Lunar Orbiter 1 View
of most of Taruntius and the area to the southeast showing many secondary craters. * {{cite web , last = Wood , first = Chuck , date = 2006-09-19 , url = http://www.lpod.org/?m=20060919 , title = Terrific Taruntius , publisher = Lunar Photo of the Day , access-date = 2006-09-19 , url-status = dead , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004416/http://www.lpod.org/?m=20060919 , archive-date = 2007-09-27 Impact craters on the Moon