Cassegrain is a
lunar impact crater that is located on the
far side of the
Moon, beyond the southeastern limb. It lies to the southeast of the larger crater
Lebedev Lebedev (russian: Ле́бедев), or Lebedeva (feminine; Ле́бедева) is a common Russian family name derived from the word лебедь (''lebed'', meaning "swan").
Geographical distribution
As of 2014, 83.5% of all known bearers of th ...
, and to the northeast of the comparably-sized
Priestley. It is named after the inventor of the
Cassegrain reflector
The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to th ...
, who was later identified as most likely
Laurent Cassegrain
Laurent Cassegrain (; – 1 September 1693) was a Catholic priest who is notable as the probable inventor of the Cassegrain reflector, a folded two-mirror reflecting telescope design.
Biography
Laurent Cassegrain was born in the region of Char ...
.
The interior of this crater has a relatively dark-hued floor, a feature it has in common with other craters to the west and northwest that form part of the
Mare Australe. The floor is level and mostly featureless, except for some deposits in the northwest corner. The rim is more heavily worn in the northwest corner than elsewhere, and the remaining inner wall displays a slumped shelf below the rim.
The crater features prominently in the science fiction novel "The Cassandra Project," by Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick, Ace Books, New York, 2012.
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 Cassegrain.
References
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Impact craters on the Moon