 Lunar craters Kiess (center) and Widmannstätten (upper right) as seen by the mapping camera of Apollo 17 | |
| Coordinates | 6°25′S 84°07′E / 6.41°S 84.11°E |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 67.79 km |
| Depth | 1.1 km[1] |
| Colongitude | 277° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Carl C. Kiess |
Kiess is a lunar impact crater next to the southern border of the Mare Smythii, near the eastern limb of the Moon. It is located to the east of the crater Kästner, and to the north of Dale and Kreiken.
The interior floor of this crater has been flooded by lava, leaving only a narrow rim above the surface. This surface has a low albedo, and is as dark as the neighboring mare. There is a break in the northeastern rim of Kiess where the crater is nearly attached to the somewhat smaller Widmannstätten, another flooded formation. The overall shape of the rim is slightly elongated in longitude, but it is not overlaid by other craters of note. There are a low ridges on the western interior floor that are concentric to the inner wall.
The craters Kiess and Widmannstätten were referred to as Wright Brothers, such as by the crew of Apollo 17,[2] prior to being officially named by the IAU in 1973.[3]
See also
- 1788 Kiess, minor planet
References
- ↑ LTO-81B4 Kiess, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series
- ↑ Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report (NASA Special Publication 330). Scientific and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C. 1973. Figure 28-9.
- ↑ Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN, Kiess, Widmannstätten
- 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 2007-08-05.
- Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
- Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
- McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 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 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855.
- Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
- Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
- Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
- Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.
- Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
- Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.