Lander is a
lunar 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 just to the north-northeast of the prominent
Tsiolkovskiy, 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 was named by the
IAU
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...
in 1976 for the British explorer Richard Lander.
Lander
Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN).
Attached to the northeastern rim of Lander is Volkov J, which is joined with Volkov to the north. Just to the southeast of Lander is Patsaev. Lander cannot be seen directly 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 must be observed from orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
. This is a worn and eroded crater formation, with features that have become poorly defined and softened due to subsequent impacts and possibly some overlap of ejecta
Ejecta (; ) are particles ejected from an area. In volcanology, in particular, the term refers to particles including pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic materials (tephra) that came out of a explosive eruption, volcanic explosion and magma eruption v ...
from Tsiolkovskiy and other sources. The inner rim is wider and has a gentler slope along the eastern side. The interior floor is relatively level, but contains some low rises.
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 Lander.
References
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External links
LTO-84D4 Volkov
— L&PI topographic map
In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...
Impact craters on the Moon