Mare Humorum (Latin ''hūmōrum'', the "Sea of Moisture") is a
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' ...
. The
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 ...
it is located in is 425 kilometers across.
Geology
It was not sampled by the Apollo program, so a precise age has not been determined. However, geological mapping indicates that it is intermediate in age between the
Imbrium and
Nectaris Basins, suggesting an age of about 3.9 billion years. Humorum Basin is filled with a thick layer of mare
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, 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 planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
, believed to exceed 3 kilometers in thickness at the center of the basin.
A
mass concentration (mascon), or gravitational high, was identified in the center of Mare Humorum 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 ...
.
On the north edge of Mare Humorum is the large
crater
Crater may refer to:
Landforms
*Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet
*Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
Gassendi, which was considered as a possible landing site for
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...
. To the south are the floor-fractured
Vitello
Vitello ( pl, Witelon; german: Witelo; – 1280/1314) was a friar, theologian, natural philosopher and an important figure in the history of philosophy in Poland
The history of philosophy in Poland parallels the evolution of philosophy in Europ ...
crater, the partially flooded
Doppelmayer, and the smaller
Puiseux. To the east are
Hippalus crater and
Promontorium Kelvin. To the west are the Rimae Doppelmayer and the Rupes Liebig, which are cliffs near
Liebig
Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at t ...
itself which is just west of the mare.
File:Humorum basin topo.jpg, Satellite image
File:Humorum 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 ...
Names
Like most of the other maria on the Moon, Mare Humorum was named by
Giovanni Riccioli
Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Society of Jesus, SJ (17 April 1598 – 25 June 1671) was an Italian astronomer and a Catholic church, Catholic priest in the Jesuit order. He is known, among other things, for his experiments with pendulums and with f ...
, whose 1651 nomenclature system has become standardized. Previously, the 17th century astronomer
Pierre Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi (; also Pierre Gassend, Petrus Gassendi; 22 January 1592 – 24 October 1655) was a French philosopher, Catholic priest, astronomer, and mathematician. While he held a church position in south-east France, he also spent much tim ...
had named it Anticaspia ('opposite to the Caspian', referring to
Mare Crisium
Mare Crisium (Latin ''crisium'', the "Sea of Crises") is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. The basin is of the Pre-Imbrian period, 4.55 to 3.85 billion years ago.
Characteristics
Mare Cri ...
, which he had named after the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
), and
Michael Van Langren had labelled it the Mare Venetum ("
Venetian Sea") in his 1645 map.
[Ewen A. Whitaker, ''Mapping and Naming the Moon'' (Cambridge University Press, 1999), p.41, 198.] Johannes Hevelius
Johannes Hevelius
Some sources refer to Hevelius as Polish:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Some sources refer to Hevelius as German:
*
*
*
*
*of the Royal Society
* (in German also known as ''Hevel''; pl, Jan Heweliusz; – 28 January 1687) was a councillor ...
called it Sinus Sirbonis ("Bay of Serbonis", after the lake of
Serbonis
Serbonian Bog ( el, Σιρβωνίδος λίμνη, Sirbōnidos limnē, la, Sirbonis Lacus, ar, مستنقع سربون, Mustanqaʿ Sirbūn) was an area of wetland in a lagoon lying between the eastern Nile Delta, the Isthmus of Suez, Mount Ca ...
, now
Lake Bardawil
Lake Bardawil ( ar, بحيرة البردويل ''Buḥayrat al-Bardawīl'' or سبخة البردويل ''Sabḵat al-Bardawīl''), is a large, very Salinity, saline lagoon nearby the protected area of Zaranik (also known for diversities of inse ...
, in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
) in his 1647 map.
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 edi ...
References
External links
*
{{Lunar maria
Humorum