Rocca is a lunar impact crater that is located near the western limb of the Moon. It lies to the northwest of the flooded crater Crüger, and to the west of the Montes Cordillera. Just to the east-southeast of Rocca is the small Lacus Aestatis, a small lunar mare.
 Mosaic of Lunar Orbiter 4 images | |
| Coordinates | 12°42′S 72°48′W / 12.7°S 72.8°W |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 89 km |
| Depth | Unknown |
| Colongitude | 74° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Giovanni A. Rocca |
This crater lies within the skirt of the ejecta that surrounds the Mare Orientale impact basin, and radial streaks of material have modified the surroundings of Rocca. There is a dune-like set of hills in the east part of the floor, similar to those in the eastern floor of the crater Darwin to the south, which is "decelerated surface-flow ejecta" from the Orientale impact.[1] The rest of the crater is in poor condition with small craters along the rim. Rocca R cuts across the northern rim, while the smaller Rocca L lies along the southern edge and inner wall.
Satellite craters
editBy convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Rocca.
| Rocca | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 13.8° S | 70.0° W | 63 km |
| B | 12.6° S | 67.4° W | 25 km |
| C | 10.7° S | 70.2° W | 19 km |
| D | 11.0° S | 68.0° W | 24 km |
| E | 11.8° S | 69.4° W | 43 km |
| F | 13.6° S | 66.6° W | 27 km |
| G | 13.3° S | 64.9° W | 23 km |
| H | 12.9° S | 65.4° W | 26 km |
| J | 14.9° S | 73.9° W | 13 km |
| L | 13.9° S | 72.6° W | 17 km |
| M | 14.5° S | 70.7° W | 42 km |
| N | 11.6° S | 70.3° W | 24 km |
| P | 11.2° S | 71.7° W | 32 km |
| Q | 15.3° S | 69.0° W | 59 km |
| R | 11.4° S | 72.9° W | 46 km |
| S | 10.3° S | 71.5° W | 10 km |
| T | 9.7° S | 71.0° W | 16 km |
| W | 10.3° S | 67.0° W | 102 km |
| Z | 16.0° S | 75.4° W | 55 km |
References
edit- ^ The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348. (online), Figure 7.8
- ^ The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 9-4.
- 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.