Antoniadi (lunar crater)

The outer rim of Antoniadi is generally circular, with an irregular edge that has multiple indentations all about the perimeter. The wall is only lightly eroded, and retains a crisp rim and terracing on the inner walls. Only a single small craterlet of note lies across the interior wall, near the southeast edge of the rim.

Antoniadi is one of the few craters on the Moon that possesses both a second inner ring and a central peak. This inner ring formation is about half the diameter of the outer wall, and only rugged mountain segments of the ring to the north and south still remain. The western part of the inner ring is almost non-existent, and only a few minor hills remain to the east.

The floor within the inner wall is unusually flat and smooth, with the central peak being the only notable feature. The floor outside the inner ring is much rougher in texture. The most notable crater on the interior floor lies across the eastern edge of the southern inner ring range.

{{anchor|Point Trieste}}

First measured by the laser altimeter (LALT) instrument on board the Japanese Selenological and Engineering Explorer (SELENE) satellite,{{cite journal | last=Araki | first=H. | last2=Tazawa | first2=S. | last3=Noda | first3=H. | last4=Ishihara | first4=Y. | last5=Goossens | first5=S. | last6=Sasaki | first6=S. | last7=Kawano | first7=N. | last8=Kamiya | first8=I. | last9=Otake | first9=H. | last10=Oberst | first10=J. | last11=Shum | first11=C. | title=Lunar Global Shape and Polar Topography Derived from Kaguya-LALT Laser Altimetry | journal=Science | publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science | volume=323 | issue=5916 | year=2009 | issn=00368075 | jstor=20403064 | pages=897–900 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20403064 | access-date=2025-03-27}} the bottom of a crater within Antoniadi crater was measured to be the lowest point on the Moon,{{cite web | title=Great Wall! | website=Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera | date=2016-02-26 | url=https://www.lroc.asu.edu/images/898 | access-date=2025-03-27}} at Lunar latitude 70.43° S, longitude 187.42° E.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/1Rnxvtem_qc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200518190620/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rnxvtem_qc&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rnxvtem_qc| title = The highest and lowest points on the Moon | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} The point is 9.178 km below the average lunar geoid. The measurement was confirmed by laser altimetry data from the Chang'e 1 orbiter, which further refined the location to latitude 70.368° S, longitude 172.413° W.{{cite journal | last=Li | first=ChunLai | last2=Ren | first2=Xin | last3=Liu | first3=JianJun | last4=Zou | first4=XiaoDuan | last5=Mu | first5=LingLi | last6=Wang | first6=JianYu | last7=Shu | first7=Rong | last8=Zou | first8=YongLiao | last9=Zhang | first9=HongBo | last10=Lü | first10=Chang | last11=Liu | first11=JianZhong | last12=Zuo | first12=Wei | last13=Su | first13=Yan | last14=Wen | first14=WeiBin | last15=Bian | first15=Wei | last16=Wang | first16=Min | last17=Xu | first17=Chun | last18=Kong | first18=DeQing | last19=Wang | first19=XiaoQian | last20=Wang | first20=Fang | last21=Geng | first21=Liang | last22=Zhang | first22=ZhouBin | last23=Zheng | first23=Lei | last24=Zhu | first24=XinYing | last25=Li | first25=JunDuo | last26=Ouyang | first26=ZiYuan | title=Laser altimetry data of Chang’E-1 and the global lunar DEM model | journal=Science China Earth Sciences | volume=53 | issue=11 | date=2010 | issn=1674-7313 | doi=10.1007/s11430-010-4020-1 | pages=1582–1593}}

The lowest point has been unofficially named "Point Trieste"{{cn|date=March 2025|reason=added in 2018 by IP; searches have not provided an earlier or qualitative reference}} after the Bathyscaphe Trieste, the first vehicle to descend to the Earth's deepest point.

Cited

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|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100623001939/http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/moonmap.htm

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General

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{{refend}}

• {{commonscat-inline}}

{{Craters on the Moon: A–B}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antoniadi (Lunar Crater)}}

Category:Impact craters on the Moon

Category:Lowest points