Marius 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 ...

located on the

Oceanus Procellarum Oceanus Procellarum ( la, Ōceanus procellārum, lit=Ocean of Storms) is a vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of the Moon. It is the only one of the lunar maria to be called an "Oceanus" (ocean), due to its size: Oceanus Proc ...

. The surface to the west and north of this crater contains a large number of

lunar dome A lunar dome is a type of shield volcano that is found on the surface of the Earth's Moon. They are typically formed by highly viscous, possibly silica-rich lava, erupting from localized vents followed by relatively slow cooling. Lunar domes are ...

s spread across an area over a hundred kilometers in diameter that may be of volcanic origin dubbed the

Marius Hills The Marius Hills are a set of volcanic domes located in Oceanus Procellarum on Earth's Moon. The domes are thought to have formed from lavas fairly more viscous than those that formed lunar mares. These domes average approximately in height. T ...

. These domes, if volcanic, may have been formed by magma that is fairly more viscous than the volcanic material that formed the basaltic

lunar maria 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 nearest named crater feature is Reiner to the southwest.

Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...

is located to the east-southeast, and

rays Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

from that formation reach the rim of Marius. Marius crater hills 2213 med

The floor of Marius has been flooded by

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 ...

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 ...

, and the surface is relatively smooth and flat. There is no central rise, but a small craterlet Marius G lies in the northeast part of the floor. The crater rim is low and generally circular in form. The area of this crater was one of the locations proposed for an

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

mission, but the expedition was subsequently cancelled. About 50 kilometres to the southeast was the landing site of the

Luna 7 ''Luna 7'' (E-6 or Ye-6 series) was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Luna program, also called Lunik 7. The ''Luna 7'' spacecraft was intended to achieve a soft landing on the Moon. However, due to premature retrofire and cutoff of the ret ...

probe. One of the numerous

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 wi ...

s in the crater's surrounding area has been found to host a probable cave skylight of a

lava cave A lava cave is any cave formed in volcanic rock, though it typically means caves formed by volcanic processes, which are more properly termed volcanic caves. Sea caves, and other sorts of erosional and crevice caves, may be formed in volcanic roc ...

in 2009. Observations by the Japanese probe

SELENE In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter o ...

indicate the hole is about 90 meters deep, and the roof — the top part of the tube — is about 25 meters thick. This would be a likely location to consider moon colonization should the hole connect to a long enough section of ancient

lava tube A lava tube, or pyroduct, is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. If lava in the tube empties, it will leave a cave. Formation A lava tube is a type of lava ca ...

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 Marius.

Popular Culture

Within the

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...

RPG '' Lunar: The Silver Star'' (and all subsequent

remakes A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

) there is a region called the Marius Zone, which is named after the Marius crater.

References

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External links

*{{cite web , author=Jenner, Lynn , author2=Dunbar, Brian , publisher=NASA , title=Landslides in Marius Crater , date=November 6, 2009 , work=Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter , url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_20091105_marius.html , access-date=2010-01-27 Impact craters on the Moon