&sq=&lang=&file=File:Amundsen_crater_color_albedo.jpg) Clementine image (1994) | |
| Coordinates | 84°30′S 82°48′E / 84.5°S 82.8°E |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 103.39 km |
| Depth | Unknown |
| Colongitude | 272° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Roald Amundsen |
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Amundsen is a large lunar impact crater located near the south pole of the Moon, named after the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. It lies along the southern lunar limb, and so is viewed from the side by an observer on the Earth. To the northwest is the crater Scott, a formation of similar dimensions that is named for another Antarctic explorer. Nobile is attached to the western rim.[1]
The rim of Amundsen is slightly distended along the southern edge, and the terraced inner surface is wider at that point than elsewhere along the outer wall. The crater overlaps a smaller crater formation to the northwest, and Hédervári is attached to the northern rim. Just to the south of Amundsen is the smaller crater Faustini.
The inner floor is relatively flat, with a pair of central peaks near the midpoint. Much of the crater floor is cloaked in shadow during the lunar day, with only the southern floor and the central peaks receiving sunlight.
Amundsen Crater hosts 82 square kilometers of carbon dioxide cold traps, where temperatures remain below 60 K (−213 °C; −352 °F), potentially containing solid carbon dioxide.[2] Such areas could be high-priority target sites for future landed missions.[3]
- ^ "Amundsen (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
- ^ Schorghofer, Norbert; Williams, Jean-Pierre; Martinez-Camacho, Jose; Paige, David A.; Siegler, Matthew A. (2021). "Carbon Dioxide Cold Traps on the Moon". Geophysical Research Letters. 48 (20). American Geophysical Union (AGU). Bibcode:2021GeoRL..4895533S. doi:10.1029/2021gl095533. ISSN 0094-8276.
- ^ Paul Hayne, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, quoted in: Carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon are confirmed for the first time, https://phys.org/news/2021-11-carbon-dioxide-cold-moon.html