Vavilov (crater)

Vavilov is a prominent impact crater that is located to the west of the walled plain Hertzsprung. It is located on the far side of the Moon and cannot be viewed directly from the Earth. About a crater diameter to the northwest is the smaller Chaucer, and farther to the southwest is Sechenov.

Vavilov

LRO WAC image
Coordinates	0.8°S 137.9°W / -0.8; -137.9
Diameter	98 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	139° at sunrise
Eponym	Nikolai I. Vavilov Sergei I. Vavilov

Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image

This is a relatively young impact that still retains the faint remnants of a ray system. Just outside the rim is a shadowed area, with the rays beginning about one-third of a crater diameter distant. The faint rays extend for several crater diameters in all directions.

Vavilov is a well-defined feature that has undergone a minimum of erosion due to subsequent impacts. The outer rim is roughly circular, with a pair of slight outward bulges to the southeast. The inner walls of the rim display several terraces, particularly to the southeast. The interior floor is roughly level, with a central ridge offset to the west of the midpoint, and some low hills in the southeast. The area to the west on the outer rim are some of the highest areas near the equator on the Moon.

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 Vavilov.

Feature	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter	Ref
Vavilov D	0.1° S	137.1° W	96.2 km	WGPSN
Vavilov K	5.2° S	135.5° W	25.59 km	WGPSN
Vavilov P	3.4° S	139.6° W	22.71 km	WGPSN

See also

• 2862 Vavilov, asteroid

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.
• 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.