Mutus (crater)

Mutus
Coordinates63°36′S 30°06′E / 63.6°S 30.1°E / -63.6; 30.1
Diameter78 km
Depth3.7 km
Colongitude333° at sunrise
EponymVincente Mut

Mutus is a lunar impact crater that is located in the rugged southern part of the Moon. It lies to the north-northeast of the larger crater Manzinus, and some distance to the south of Hommel. It is 78 kilometers in diameter and 3.7 kilometers deep. It is from the Pre-Nectarian period, 4.55 to 3.92 billion years ago.[1]

The crater area (at the extreme right) in a Selenochromatic format Image (Si)

The outer rim of Mutus is worn and eroded, with a pair of small but notable craters, Mutus A and Mutus V, lying across the eastern rim. A number of other tiny craters lay along the rim and the interior wall. Another crater, Mutus B, is located on the crater floor, just to the south of the midpoint. The remainder of the interior is relatively flat, and punctuated by several tiny craterlets to the north of Mutus B.[2]

Mutus is named for Vincente Mut (Muth), a 17th-century Spanish astronomer and sailor.[1]

  1. ^ a b Autostar Suite Astronomer Edition. CD-ROM. Meade, April 2006.
  2. ^ Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-913135-17-8.