Tycho (lunar crater)

Tycho
Tycho seen by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (rotate display if you see a crater illusion due to the atypical position of the light source). NASA
Coordinates43°19′S 11°22′W / 43.31°S 11.36°W / -43.31; -11.36
Diameter85 km (53.4 miles)
Depth4.7 km (2.9 mi)[1]
Colongitude12° at sunrise
EponymTycho Brahe
Location of Tycho as seen from the Northern Hemisphere
3D model of Tycho crater

Tycho (/ˈtaɪkoʊ/) is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the southern lunar highlands, named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601).[2] It is estimated to be 108 million years old.[3]

To the south of Tycho is the crater Street, to the east is Pictet, and to the north-northeast is Sasserides. The surface around Tycho is replete with craters of various sizes, many overlapping still older craters. Some of the smaller craters are secondary craters formed from larger chunks of ejecta from Tycho. It is one of the Moon's brightest craters,[3] with a diameter of 85 km (53 mi)[4] and a depth of 4,700 m (15,400 ft).[1]

  1. ^ a b Margot, Jean-Luc; Campbell, Donald B.; Jurgens, Raymond F.; Slade, Martin A. (25 May 1999). "The topography of Tycho Crater". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 104 (E5): 11875–11882. Bibcode:1999JGR...10411875M. doi:10.1029/1998JE900047.
  2. ^ "Tycho (lunar crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program., accessed 19 February 2019
  3. ^ a b "The floor of Tycho crater". Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA. 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 30 March 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  4. ^ Wood, Charles A. (1 August 2006). "Tycho: The metropolitan crater of the Moon". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 19 June 2018.