Blanchinus is a

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

in the rugged south-central highlands of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

. It is named after Italian astronomer

Giovanni Bianchini Giovanni Bianchini (in Latin, Johannes Blanchinus) (1410 – c. 1469) was a professor of mathematics and astronomy at the University of Ferrara and court astrologer of Leonello d'Este. He was an associate of Georg Purbach and Regiomontanus. ...

whose Latinized name is Blanchinus. Adjacent to its south is the crater

Werner Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

, and La Caille is attached to the northwest rim. To its west is the prominent formation Purbach. Blanchinus' outer rim has been significantly degraded by subsequent impacts, leaving an irregular, notched exterior ring of rugged hills and ridges. The inner floor, in contrast, is nearly flat and free of significant impacts. Only a few tiny craterlets mark it, with Blanchinus M near the midpoint and the remainder near the southwest rim. For a few hours before the first quarter, the crater's rim contributes the

lunar x The Lunar X (also known as the Werner X) is a clair-obscur effect in which light and shadow creates the appearance of a letter 'X' on the rim of the Blanchinus (crater), Blanchinus, La Caille (crater), La Caille and Purbach (crater), Purbach cr ...

visual phenomenon.

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 Blanchinus.

References

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External links

* {{Craters on the Moon: A–B Impact craters on the Moon