Marius (crater)

{{Short description|Crater on the Moon}}

{{Infobox Lunar crater

| image = Marius crater 4150 h2.jpg

| caption = Lunar Orbiter 4 image

| coordinates = {{coord|11.9|N|50.8|W|globe:moon_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| diameter = 41 km

| depth = 1.7 km

| colong = 50

| eponym = Simon Marius

}}

File:Oceanus Procellarum Si Barbero Zetta Ferruggia.jpg

Image:Marius Crater.jpg photo]]

Marius is a lunar impact crater located on the Oceanus Procellarum. The surface to the west and north of this crater contains a large number of lunar domes spread across an area over a hundred kilometers in diameter that may be of volcanic origin dubbed the Marius Hills. These domes, if volcanic, may have been formed by magma that is fairly more viscous than the volcanic material that formed the basaltic lunar maria. The nearest named crater feature is Reiner to the southwest. Kepler is located to the east-southeast, and rays from that formation reach the rim of Marius.

Image:Rima_Marius_AS15-M-2610.jpg]]

File:Marius crater hills 2213 med.jpg with Marius Crater in upper right by Lunar Orbiter 2]]

The floor of Marius has been flooded by basaltic lava, and the surface is relatively smooth and flat. There is no central rise, but a small craterlet Marius G lies in the northeast part of the floor. The crater rim is low and generally circular in form.

The area of this crater was one of the locations proposed for an Apollo mission, but the expedition was subsequently cancelled. About 50 kilometres to the southeast was the landing site of the Luna 7 probe.

One of the numerous rilles in the crater's surrounding area has been found to host a probable cave skylight of a lava cave in 2009. Observations by the Japanese probe SELENE indicate the hole is about 90 meters deep, and the roof — the top part of the tube — is about 25 meters thick.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/03/05/spelunking-the-lunar-landscape|title=Spelunking the Lunar Landscape|last=Plaitt|first=Phil|date=2010-03-10|work=Bad Astronomy Blog|publisher=Discover Magazine|access-date=2010-06-18|archive-date=2010-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100307204846/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/03/05/spelunking-the-lunar-landscape/|url-status=dead}} This would be a likely location to consider moon colonization should the hole connect to a long enough section of ancient lava tube.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Marius.

class="wikitable"

!width="25%" style="background:#eeeeee;" |Marius

!width="25%" style="background:#eeeeee;" |Latitude

!width="25%" style="background:#eeeeee;" |Longitude

!width="25%" style="background:#eeeeee;" |Diameter

align="center"|A

|align="center"|12.6° N

|align="center"|46.0° W

|align="center"|15 km

align="center"|B

|align="center"|16.3° N

|align="center"|47.3° W

|align="center"|12 km

align="center"|C

|align="center"|14.0° N

|align="center"|47.6° W

|align="center"|11 km

align="center"|D

|align="center"|11.4° N

|align="center"|45.0° W

|align="center"|9 km

align="center"|E

|align="center"|12.1° N

|align="center"|52.7° W

|align="center"|6 km

align="center"|F

|align="center"|12.1° N

|align="center"|45.3° W

|align="center"|6 km

align="center"|G

|align="center"|12.1° N

|align="center"|50.6° W

|align="center"|3 km

align="center"|H

|align="center"|11.3° N

|align="center"|50.3° W

|align="center"|5 km

align="center"|J

|align="center"|10.5° N

|align="center"|46.9° W

|align="center"|3 km

align="center"|K

|align="center"|9.4° N

|align="center"|50.6° W

|align="center"|4 km

align="center"|L

|align="center"|15.9° N

|align="center"|55.7° W

|align="center"|8 km

align="center"|M

|align="center"|17.4° N

|align="center"|54.9° W

|align="center"|6 km

align="center"|N

|align="center"|18.7° N

|align="center"|54.7° W

|align="center"|4 km

align="center"|P

|align="center"|17.9° N

|align="center"|51.3° W

|align="center"|4 km

align="center"|Q

|align="center"|16.5° N

|align="center"|56.2° W

|align="center"|5 km

align="center"|R

|align="center"|13.6° N

|align="center"|50.3° W

|align="center"|5 km

align="center"|S

|align="center"|13.9° N

|align="center"|47.1° W

|align="center"|7 km

align="center"|U

|align="center"|9.6° N

|align="center"|47.6° W

|align="center"|3 km

align="center"|V

|align="center"|9.9° N

|align="center"|48.3° W

|align="center"|2 km

align="center"|W

|align="center"|9.4° N

|align="center"|49.7° W

|align="center"|3 km

align="center"|X

|align="center"|9.7° N

|align="center"|54.9° W

|align="center"|5 km

align="center"|Y

|align="center"|9.8° N

|align="center"|50.7° W

|align="center"|2 km

Popular culture

Within the Sega CD RPG Lunar: The Silver Star (and all subsequent remakes) there is a region called the Marius Zone, which is named after the Marius crater.

References

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book

| last1 = Andersson

| first1 = L. E.

| last2 = Whitaker

| first2 = E. A.

| authorlink2 = Ewen Whitaker

| date = 1982

| title = NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature

| publisher = NASA RP-1097

}}

  • {{cite web

| last = Blue

| first = Jennifer

| date = July 25, 2007

| title = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

| publisher = USGS

| url = http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/

| access-date = 2007-08-05

}}

  • {{cite book

| last1 = Bussey

| first1 = B.

| authorlink1 = Ben Bussey

| last2 = Spudis

| first2 = P.

| authorlink2 = Paul Spudis

| date = 2004

| title = The Clementine Atlas of the Moon

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| location = New York

| isbn = 978-0-521-81528-4

}}

  • {{cite book

| last1 = Cocks

| first1 = Elijah E.

| last2 = Cocks

| first2 = Josiah C.

| date = 1995

| title = Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature

| publisher = Tudor Publishers

| isbn = 978-0-936389-27-1

| url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780936389271

}}

  • {{cite web

| last = McDowell

| first = Jonathan

| date = July 15, 2007

| url = http://host.planet4589.org/astro/lunar/

| title = Lunar Nomenclature

| publisher = Jonathan's Space Report

| access-date = 2007-10-24

}}

  • {{cite journal| last1 = Menzel| first1 = D. H.| last2 = Minnaert| first2 = M.| last3 = Levin| first3 = B.| last4 = Dollfus| first4 = A.| last5 = Bell| first5 = B.| title = Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU| doi = 10.1007/BF00171763| journal = Space Science Reviews| volume = 12| issue = 2| pages = 136–186| date = 1971| bibcode = 1971SSRv...12..136M| s2cid = 122125855}}
  • {{cite book

| first = Patrick

| last = Moore

| authorlink = Patrick Moore

| date = 2001

| title = On the Moon

| publisher = Sterling Publishing Co.

| isbn = 978-0-304-35469-6

| url = https://archive.org/details/patrickmooreonmo00patr

}}

  • {{cite book

| first = Fred W.

| last = Price

| date = 1988

| title = The Moon Observer's Handbook

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| isbn = 978-0-521-33500-3

}}

  • {{cite book

| last = Rükl

| first = Antonín

| authorlink = Antonín Rükl

| date = 1990

| title = Atlas of the Moon

| publisher = Kalmbach Books

| isbn = 978-0-913135-17-4

}}

  • {{cite book

| last = Webb

| first = Rev. T. W.

| authorlink = Thomas William Webb

| date = 1962

| title = Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes

| edition = 6th revised

| publisher = Dover

| isbn = 978-0-486-20917-3

| url = https://archive.org/details/celestialobjects00webb

}}

  • {{cite book

| first = Ewen A.

| last = Whitaker

| authorlink = Ewen Whitaker

| date = 1999

| title = Mapping and Naming the Moon

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| isbn = 978-0-521-62248-6

}}

  • {{cite book

| first = Peter T.

| last = Wlasuk

| date = 2000

| title = Observing the Moon

| publisher = Springer

| isbn = 978-1-85233-193-1

}}

{{refend}}

{{reflist}}