Mendeleev is a large
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 is located on the
far side
''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surrealist ...
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 ...
, as seen from the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...
. The southern rim of this walled plain just crosses the lunar equator. Intruding into the eastern rim of Mendeleev is the crater
Schuster. Nearly on the opposite side, the smaller
Hartmann intrudes into west-southwestern rim.
The crater is named after the Russian chemist
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (sometimes transliterated as Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) ( ; russian: links=no, Дмитрий Иванович Менделеев, tr. , ; 8 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._27_January.html" ;"title="O ...
. Even after formal naming in 1961 by the
IAU, the crater was known as ''Basin IX'' until the early 1970s.
Description
The nearly level interior of Mendeleev contains a number of smaller crater formations which have been given names. These form a rough pentagon formation that covers much of the interior floor. Along the western inner floor, the craters
Bergman to the west-northwest and
Moissan to the west just make contact with the western inner wall of Mendeleev. Together with Bergman,
Fischer to the north-northeast and
Richards
Richards may refer to:
*Richards (surname)
In places:
* Richards, New South Wales, Australia
* Richards, Missouri, United States
* Richards, Texas, United States
In other uses:
* Richards (lunar crater)
Richards is a small lunar impact crat ...
in the north of Mendeleev form the northern side of the pentagon. The figure continues with
Harden near Schuster, and
Benedict just to the southeast of the midpoint of Mendeleev. The largest crater within the Mendeleev basin is Mendeleev P, to the south-southwest.
The remainder of the interior floor is relatively flat, at least in comparison to the rugged blast terrain radiating away from the exterior. There are, however, a number of small craters within the interior in addition to those mentioned above. A cluster of these craters lie near the midpoint of the interior, and there are several in the southeast part of the floor. In the western half of the floor is a chain of tiny craters named the Catena Mendeleev. These form a line that trends from near the southwest part of the interior, then tangentially grazes the western rim of the crater Richards. The line of craters points directly to
Tsiolkovskiy crater far to the southwest, and are thought to be
secondaries from it.
[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, ...
Professional Paper: 1348. Figure 9.26 B
online
In fiction
In
Stanislaw Lem's ''
More Tales of Pirx the Pilot'', a story is wrapped around a fictional lunar science facility that is stationed in Mendeleev.
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 Mendeleev.
References
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External links
Mendeleevat the Moon Wiki
Catena Mendeleevat the Moon Wiki
* – mosaic image of the Mendeleev crater from the LROC WAC.
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on Catena Mendeleev
LAC-66 chart of Mendeleev and surrounding terrain
Related article
* {{cite web, last = Wood , first = Chuck, date = August 15, 2004 , url = http://lpod.wikispaces.com/June+5%2C+2009 , title = A Chain of Evidence , publisher = Lunar Photo of the Day, on Catena Mendeleev
Dmitri Mendeleev
Impact craters on the Moon