Picard 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 ...
that lies in
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 ...
. The crater is named for 17th century French astronomer and
geodesist
Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equival ...
Jean Picard. It is the biggest non-flooded crater of this mare, being slightly larger than
Peirce to the north-northwest. To the west is the almost completely flooded crater
Yerkes. To east of Picard is the tiny
Curtis
Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Ga ...
.
Picard is a crater from the
Eratosthenian
The Eratosthenian period in the lunar geologic timescale runs from 3,200 million years ago to 1,100 million years ago. It is named after the crater Eratosthenes, which displays characteristics typical of craters of this age, including a surface ...
period, which lasted from 3.2 to 1.1 billion years ago. Inside Picard is a series of terraces that seismologists have attributed to a collapse of the crater floor. It has a cluster of low hills at the bottom.
Satellite craters
![Picard sattelite craters map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Picard_sattelite_craters_map.jpg)
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Picard.
![Picard crater AS15-P-9221](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Picard_crater_AS15-P-9221.jpg)
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 ...
.
* Picard G — ''see''
Tebbutt.
* Picard H — ''see''
Shapley Shapley is a surname that might refer to one of the following:
* Lieutenant General Alan Shapley (1903–1973), of the U.S. Marine Corps, was a survivor the sinking of the USS Arizona in the attack on Pearl Harbor
* Harlow Shapley (1885–1972), Am ...
.
* Picard X — ''see''
Fahrenheit
The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his ...
.
* Picard Z — ''see''
Curtis
Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' ( Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Ga ...
.
References
External links
LTO-62A1 Yerkes— 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 historic ...
Map of the regionPart of Picard crater: photo by ''Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter'' with resolution 1,3 meters/pixel*
*
Picardin The-Moon Wiki
{{Commonscat
Impact craters on the Moon
Eratosthenian