Becquerel (lunar crater)

This article is about the crater on the moon. For the crater on Mars, see Becquerel (Martian crater).

Becquerel is a lunar impact crater that lies in the northern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. This is an ancient and heavily worn formation that is now little more than an irregular buri in the surface. The outer rim has been worn and reshaped until it forms a rugged, mountainous region around the flatter interior.

Becquerel

LRO mosaic
Coordinates	40.7°N 129.7°E / 40.7; 129.7
Diameter	65 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	232° at sunrise
Eponym	A. Henri Becquerel

Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image

The most notable of the formations on the rim is Becquerel X, which is part of a double crater along the northwestern rim. There is a short valley paralleling the southwestern rim, most likely formed by the merging of several small craters. The interior floor of Becquerel is relatively flat, but with rough sections and several tiny craterlets marking the surface. There is a dark patch (low albedo) on the floor near the southern rim.

To the west of Becquerel are H. G. Wells and Tesla, to the north is Segers, to the northeast is Bridgman, and to the south is Van Maanen.

The crater's name was adopted by the IAU in 1970.

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 Becquerel.

Becquerel	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
E	41.0° N	131.5° E	32 km
F	40.9° N	132.9° E	21 km
W	42.2° N	126.9° E	27 km
X	42.2° N	128.1° E	34 km

External links

• 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.