Le Monnier is the remnant of 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 crater ...

that has been partly inundated 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 ...

flows. It was named after French astronomer

Pierre Charles Le Monnier Pierre Charles Le Monnier (; 23 November 1715 – 3 April 1799) was a French astronomer. His name is sometimes given as Lemonnier. Biography Le Monnier was born in Paris, where his father Pierre (1675–1757), also an astronomer, was professo ...

. It is located on the eastern edge of

Mare Serenitatis Mare Serenitatis (Latin ''serēnitātis'', the "Sea of Serenity") is a lunar mare located to the east of Mare Imbrium on the Moon. Its diameter is . Geology Mare Serenitatis is located within the Serenitatis basin, which is of the Nectarian epo ...

, and the western part of the rim is missing so that it now forms a large bay. To the north is the crater Chacornac. The interior of this formation is relatively flat and smooth, with no significant craterlets to mark the surface. The outer rim is battered, worn, and notched with past impacts. Only slight

wrinkle ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features c ...

s now mark where the western rim once lay. The landing site of the Luna 21 space probe is located near the southern rim of Le Monnier.

Lunokhod 2 ''Lunokhod 2'' (russian: Луноход-2 ("Moonwalker 2"), also known as Аппарат 8ЕЛ № 204 ("Device 8EL No. 204")) was the second of two unmanned lunar rovers that landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union as part of the Lunokhod pro ...

, a robotic roving vehicle deposited on the surface by Luna 21, covered a distance of 37 kilometers across the crater floor. It also surveyed the southern edge of the crater rim.

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 Le Monnier. The following craters have been renamed by the IAU. * Le Monnier B — ''See''

Very (lunar crater) Very is a small lunar impact crater located in the eastern part of Mare Serenitatis, to the west-southwest of Le Monnier. It lies upon a wrinkle ridge that runs to the north and south named Dorsa Smirnov. It was named after American astronomer ...

. * Le Monnier C — ''See'' Borel (crater).

References

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External links

{{Commonscat
Lunokhod 2 traverse overview
path of

in southern Le Monnier crater
LTO-43A4 Le Monnier
— L&PI

topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...

. Impact craters on the Moon