Pontanus (crater)

The crater area in a selenochromatic format image (Si)
Pontanus
Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates28°24′S 14°24′E / 28.4°S 14.4°E / -28.4; 14.4
Diameter58 km
Depth2.1 km
Colongitude246° at sunrise
EponymGiovanni Pontano

Pontanus is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern highlands of the Moon's near side. It lies approximately midway between the craters Sacrobosco to the north-northeast and Gemma Frisius to the south-southwest. It is 58 kilometers in diameter and 2,120 meters deep.[1]

The rim of this crater has been heavily worn by subsequent impacts, leaving a roughly circular, uneven slope about the interior. There is an outward protrusion in the rim to the south. The rim and inner wall to the north is less prominent, and is incised along the inner edge. The satellite crater Pontanus V is attached to the west-southwestern side. The interior floor is relatively uneven, particularly in the northern half, but is not marked by any significant craters.[2][3] The crater is from the Pre-Nectarian period, 4.55 to 3.92 billion years ago.[1]

The crater is named after the 15th-century Italian poet Giovanni Pontano.[4][1]

  1. ^ a b c Autostar Suite Astronomer Edition. CD-ROM. Meade, April 2006.
  2. ^ Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-913135-17-8.
  3. ^ Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-304-35469-4.
  4. ^ "Pontanus (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.