Kepler (lunar crater)

This article is about the crater on the Moon. For the Martian crater, see Kepler (Martian crater).

Kepler is a lunar impact crater that lies between the Oceanus Procellarum to the west and Mare Insularum in the east. To the southeast is the crater Encke. Kepler is named for the 17th century German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler.^[1]

Kepler area in a Selenochromatic Image (Si)

Kepler

Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	8.1°N 38.0°W / 8.1; -38.0
Diameter	32 km
Depth	2.6 km
Colongitude	38° at sunrise
Eponym	Johannes Kepler

Description

Kepler is most notable for the prominent ray system that covers the surrounding mare. The rays extend for well over 300 kilometers, overlapping the rays from other craters. Kepler has a small rampart of ejecta surrounding the exterior of its high rim. The outer wall is not quite circular, and possesses a slightly polygonal form. The interior walls of Kepler are slumped and slightly terraced, descending to an uneven floor and a minor central rise.

One of the rays from Tycho, when extended across the Oceanus Procellarum, intersects this crater. This was a factor in the choice of the crater's name when Giovanni Riccioli was creating his system of lunar nomenclature, as Kepler used the observations of Tycho Brahe while devising his three laws of planetary motion. On Riccioli's maps, this crater was named Keplerus, and the surrounding skirt of higher albedo terrain was named Insulara Ventorum.

Due to its prominent rays, Kepler is mapped as part of the Copernican System.^[2]

• 
  Oblique view from Lunar Orbiter 3
• 
  Kepler from Apollo 12
• 
  Kepler area with mineral postprocessing (L(DVF)+C -daytime acquisition)

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 Kepler.

Latitude	Kepler	Longitude	Diameter
7.2° N	A	36.1° W	11 km
7.8° N	B	35.3° W	7 km
10.0° N	C	41.8° W	11 km
7.4° N	D	41.9° W	10 km
7.4° N	E	43.9° W	6 km
8.3° N	F	39.0° W	7 km
12.2° N	P	34.0° W	4 km
9.0° N	T	34.6° W	3 km

• 
  Kepler D crater

References

1. "Kepler (lunar crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
2. The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348. Plate 11: Copernican System (online)

• 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.

External links

• Wood, Chuck (2006-07-05). "A Smarter Kepler". Lunar Photo of the Day. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-07-12.