
Lexell 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 lies across the southeastern rim of the huge walled plain
Deslandres, in the southern part 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 after Swedish-Russian mathematician and astronomer
Anders Johan Lexell
Anders Johan Lexell (24 December 1740 – ) was a Finnish-Swedish astronomer, mathematician, and physicist who spent most of his life in Imperial Russia, where he was known as Andrei Ivanovich Leksel (Андрей Иванович Лексе ...
.
To the northeast is the walled plain
Walther
Walther () is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a German form of Walter, which is derived from the Old High German '' Walthari'', containing the elements ''wald'' -"power", "brightness" or "forest" and ''hari'' -"warrior".
The name was ...
, and to the south is
Orontius, another walled plain.
This is a somewhat irregular formation with a wide break in the northern rim. The western rim forms a low, arcing wall, and is overlain to the southwest by Lexell H after passing the rim of Deslandres. The rim peaks along the southeast, then comes to an end at a rugged promontory-like ridge. The interior floor has been resurfaced by
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...
to the northwest and in sections of the remainder of the floor. There are some low rises and
ghost-crater rims in the southeast half part of the interior floor.
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 Lexell.
References
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External links
* {{cite web
, last = Wood
, first = Chuck
, date = October 5, 2007
, url = http://www.lpod.org/?m=20071005
, title = The Case of the Missing Rim
, publisher = Lunar Photo of the Day
, access-date = 2007-10-08
, url-status = dead
, archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071027110553/http://www.lpod.org/?m=20071005
, archive-date = October 27, 2007
Impact craters on the Moon