Gauss is a large
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 ...
, named after
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; ; ; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician, astronomer, geodesist, and physicist, who contributed to many fields in mathematics and science. He was director of the Göttingen Observatory and ...
, that is located near the northeastern limb 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 ...
's near side.
It belongs to a category of lunar formations called a walled plain, meaning that it has a diameter of at least 110 kilometers, with a somewhat sunken floor and little or no central
massif
A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...
. Due to its location, this crater appears considerably foreshortened when viewed from the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
, and its visibility is affected by
libration
In lunar astronomy, libration is the cyclic variation in the apparent position of the Moon that is perceived by observers on the Earth and caused by changes between the orbital and rotational planes of the moon. It causes an observer to see ...
.
To the northeast of Gauss is
Riemann
Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (; ; 17September 182620July 1866) was a German mathematician who made profound contributions to analysis, number theory, and differential geometry. In the field of real analysis, he is mostly known for the first ...
, another walled plain that lies even closer to the limb. Southwest of Gauss is the crater pair of
Hahn
Hahn may refer to:
Places
*Hahn (crater), on the Moon
*Hahn (Holzhausen), a hill in Hesse, Germany
*Hahn, Rhineland-Palatinate, a municipality in Germany
**Hahn Air Base, a former frontline NATO facility near Hahn
**Frankfurt–Hahn Airport
* Ha ...
and
Berosus. Almost directly southward is
Seneca.
The rim of Gauss is better formed in the northern half, and the inner walls have some terracing along the northwest and appear slumped in the northeast. The southern half of the rim is somewhat more eroded.
The interior floor is fairly flat in places, with several craters marking the surface in the southern half. There is also a small crater, Gauss B, lying along the interior of the eastern rim, with the smaller Gauss A lying across the rim just to the northeast of Gauss B. The floor of Gauss is also marked by several clefts, particularly along the eastern and northwestern edges. The uneven crater rims in the south and a series of rises in the north gives the appearance of a ridge line that traverses the crater floor from north to south.
Gauss is one of the largest craters of
Nectarian
The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale was from 3.920 billion years ago to 3.850 billion years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris for ...
age.
The geologic history of the Moon
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...
Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 9-4.
Views
File:Gauss crater AS14-71-9858.jpg, Gauss crater from Apollo 14
Apollo 14 (January 31February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to Moon landing, land on the Moon, and the first to land in the Geology of the Moon#Highlands, lunar highlands. It was the las ...
File:Gauss crater AS16-P-5520.jpg, Gauss crater from Apollo 16
Apollo 16 (April 1627, 1972) was the tenth human spaceflight, crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, Apollo space program, administered by NASA, and the fifth and penultimate to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the second o ...
File:Gauss crater Lacus Spei AS16-122-19606.jpg, Regional view with Gauss below center and Lacus Spei (dark patch near horizon)
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 Gauss.
See also
* 1001 Gaussia, asteroid named after Gauss
* List of craters on the Moon
This is a list of named lunar craters. The large majority of these features are impact craters. The Planetary nomenclature, crater nomenclature is governed by the International Astronomical Union, and this listing only includes features that are ...
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{refend
External links
Gaussian Blur
Lunar Photo of the Day, February 16, 2006
Impact craters on the Moon
Crater
A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...