Elvey 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 ...
that is located on the
far side 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 located near the northern edge of the blanket of ejecta that surrounds the
Mare Orientale
Mare Orientale (Latin ''orientāle'', the "eastern sea") is a lunar mare. It is located on the western border of the near side and far side of the Moon, and is difficult to see from an Earthbound perspective. Images from spacecraft have revea ...
impact basin. To the north of Elvey is the smaller crater
Nobel.
This is a damaged crater with a rim that is only partly intact along the eastern side. The remainder of the rim is irregular and less distinct. This condition may have been created by the ejecta from the Mare Orientale impact to the south. A pair of small craters lies along the northwestern rim.
Less than two crater diameters to the south of Elvey is the impact site of a small crater. This formation lies at the focus of a
ray system
In planetary geology, a ray system comprises radial streaks of fine '' ejecta'' thrown out during the formation of an impact crater, looking somewhat like many thin spokes coming from the hub of a wheel. The rays may extend for lengths up to ...
that extends over 200 km in all directions. The central portion of this system forms a bright skirt of higher
albedo
Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...
material, while the rays become progressively more wispy with distance. There is a larger but less distinct ray system farther to the northwest of Elvey, and these two systems criss-cross each other along a section of terrain containing Elvey.
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 Elvey.
References
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Impact craters on the Moon
{{Craters on the Moon: C-F