Priestley (lunar crater)

For other uses, see Priestley (disambiguation).

Priestley is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth, in the low southern latitudes. It lies to the southeast of the flooded crater Kugler.

Priestley

LRO WAC image
Coordinates	57.3°S 108.4°E / -57.3; 108.4
Diameter	52 km (32 mi)
Colongitude	253° at sunrise
Eponym	Joseph Priestley

Lunar Orbiter 4 image

This is a worn crater with a rim and inner wall that have been softened and have lost the sharp features of a young crater. The satellite crater Priestley X lies across the northern rim and part of the inner wall. There is a small, relatively fresh crater on the inner wall to the south-southwest. An old crater-like feature is attached to the southwestern outer rim, and shares part of its rim with Priestley. The inner wall is narrower in the southeast than elsewhere. Within the interior is a level, featureless floor.

A depression in the surface to the south of Priestley has been flooded with lava, leaving a level plain with a low albedo. This flooded area stretches to the west and then to the northwest, and is about four times as long as Priestley is wide.

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 Priestley.

Priestley	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
K	59.0° S	110.5° E	35 km
X	56.5° S	107.8° E	14 km

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 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.
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• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
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• 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.