Archimedes (crater)
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Crater characteristics
Archimedes from Apollo 15. NASA photo.
Coordinates	29.7° N, 4.0° W
Diameter	83 km
Depth	2.1 km
Colongitude	4° at sunrise
Eponym	Archimedes

Archimedes is a large lunar impact crater on the eastern edges of the Mare Imbrium. To the south of the crater extends the Montes Archimedes mountainous region. On the southeastern rim is the Palus Putredinis flooded plain, containing a system of rilles named the Rimae Archimedes that extend over 150 kilometers. North-northwest of Archimedes stand the Montes Spitzbergen, a string of peaks in the Mare Imbrium.

East of Archimedes is the crater Autolycus, and the stretch of lunar surface between these two formations was the crash-landing site of Luna 2. This was the first craft to reach the surface of the Moon, landing September 13, 1959.

Northeast of Archimedes is the prominent crater Aristillus. The lava plain between Archimedes, Aristillus, and Autolycus forms the Sinus Lunicus bay of Mare Imbrium. A wrinkle ridge leads away from Archimedes toward the north-northwest, crossing this mare.

The diameter of Archimedes is the largest of any crater on the Mare Imbrium. The rim has a significant outer rampart brightened with ejecta and the upper portion of a terraced inner wall, but lacks the ray system associated with younger craters. A triangular promontory extends 30 kilometers from the southeast of the rim.

The interior of the crater lacks a central peak, and is flooded with lava. It is devoid of significant raised features, although there are a few tiny meteor craters near the rim. Scattered wisps of bright ray material lie across the floor, most likely deposited by the impact that created Autolycus.

Illustrations

Lunar crater Archimedes. Image courtesy of NOT and SO: M. Gålfalk, G. Olofsson, and H.-G. Florén.

Detail map of Mare Imbrium's features. Archimedes is the feature marked "G".

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater mid-point that is closest to Archimedes.

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.

• Archimedes A - See Bancroft (crater).
• Archimedes F - See MacMillan (crater).
• Archimedes K - See Spurr (crater).

References

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A., (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097. 
• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2. 
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 0-936389-27-3. 
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
• Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by The Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews 12: 136. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1971SSRv...12..136M. 
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-304-35469-4. 
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521335000. 
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-913135-17-8. 
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revision ed.). Dover. ISBN 0-486-20917-2. 
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62248-4. 
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 1852331933.