Dewar (crater)

Dewar
LRO image
Coordinates2°37′S 165°37′E / 2.61°S 165.62°E / -2.61; 165.62
Diameter46.31 km
DepthUnknown
Colongitude195° at sunrise
EponymJames Dewar
Clementine image showing that Dewar lies within a low-albedo patch on the far side of the Moon.
Oblique Apollo 11 image showing the rim of Dewar at right, along with Dewar E and F near center. The scene is within the low-albedo area.

Dewar is a lunar impact crater that lies on the Moon's far side. Less than one crater diameter to the south-southwest is the crater Stratton. Vening Meinesz is a little over one crater diameter to the northwest. The slightly worn rim of this crater is roughly circular, with a small outward protrusion along the southern edge. The interior floor is marked by several small impacts along the eastern side.

The crater was named after British chemist James Dewar by the IAU in 1970.[1]

Dewar lies on the south side of an anomalously low albedo area of terrain (dark patch) on the far side of the Moon. The low-albedo area is also a geochemical anomaly, and is high in iron oxide and titanium dioxide. It has been interpreted as a cryptomare.[2]

  1. ^ Dewar, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  2. ^ Lawrence, S. J., B. R. Hawke, J. J. Gillis-Davis, G. J. Taylor, D. J. Lawrence, J. T. Cahill, J. J. Hagerty, P. G. Lucey, G. A. Smith, and K. Keil (2008), Composition and origin of the Dewar geochemical anomaly, J. Geophys. Res., 113, E02001, doi:10.1029/2007JE002904.