The depth of an
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 a solid
planet
A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...
or
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 ...
may be measured from the local surface to the bottom of the crater, or from the
rim of the crater to the bottom.
The diagram above shows the full (side) view of a typical crater. Depth "A" measures from the surface to the bottom of the crater. Depth "B" measures from the mean height of the rim to the bottom of the crater.
Concepts and Measurement
Using the following concepts, a crater is measured:
*Measurement
*Scales
*Geometry
*Graphing data
*Drawing conclusions
[Crater Depth]
", National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Retrieved February 29, 2016
A method of measuring a crater is to find the length of the shadow cast by the crater's rim and the angle at which the light source enters. In this measurement, use the geometry of triangles to calculate d (shadow depth) using L (shadow length) and Ø (shadow angle). So, tan Ø = d/L and L * tan Ø = d
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crater Depth
impact craters
ca:Cràter d'impacte#Profunditat