Planck 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 ...

, approximately 319 kilometers in diameter, that is located in the southern

hemisphere Hemisphere may refer to: In geometry * Hemisphere (geometry), a half of a sphere As half of Earth or any spherical astronomical object * A hemisphere of Earth ** Northern Hemisphere ** Southern Hemisphere ** Eastern Hemisphere ** Western Hemi ...

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 ...

, on the

far side ''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surrealis ...

as seen 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 ...

. It lies to the west of the walled plain

Poincaré Poincaré is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Henri Poincaré Jules Henri Poincaré (, ; ; 29 April 185417 July 1912) was a French mathematician, Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philos ...

, another enormous formation only slightly larger than Planck. Lying across the southeast rim of Planck is the crater

Prandtl Ludwig Prandtl (4 February 1875 – 15 August 1953) was a German Fluid mechanics, fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlyin ...

, to the northeast is

Hildegard Hildegard is a female name derived from the Old High German ''hild'' ('war' or 'battle') and ''gard'' ('enclosure' or 'yard'), and means 'battle enclosure'. Variant spellings include: Hildegarde; the Polish, Portuguese, Slovene and Spanish Hi ...

, and to the west is

Fechner Fechner is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Carl-A. Fechner (born 1952), German documentary filmmaker * Christian Fechner (1944–2008), French film producer and screenwriter * Gino Fechner (born 1997), German footballer * Gu ...

. Planck is located within the

South Pole–Aitken basin The South Pole–Aitken basin (SPA Basin, ) is an immense impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly in diameter and between deep, it is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System. It is the largest, oldest, and dee ...

Formation

According to a 2012 study, Planck formed roughly 4.09 Ga (billion years) ago, partially resurfacing the area of the

South Pole-Aitken basin South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

that it impacted.

Description

Like many lunar formations of this size, the outer rim has been damaged and eroded by lesser impacts, leaving a rugged ring of peaks and ridges that is notched and incised by small craters. The western rim of this walled plain is neatly overlain by a long lunar valley designated the

Vallis Planck Vallis Planck is a long, linear valley located on the far side of the Moon. It is oriented radially to the huge Schrödinger basin, and was most likely formed by that impact. The selenographic coordinates of this feature are , and it has a lengt ...

. Despite its name, however, this valley is actually radial to the walled plain Schrödinger to the south. The valley is approximately 503 kilometers in length. The most notable feature on the interior floor of Planck is a multi-crater formation in the northern half consisting of Planck W, Planck Y, Planck Z, Planck B, and Planck A. The interior of Planck Y has been almost completely flooded by lava, leaving only a shallow perimeter. Likewise Planck Z has been flooded, although its rim is somewhat more prominent. The interior of Planck B is partly occupied by a concentric crater, and the floor contains several clefts. Parts of the remaining floor of Planck are level and smooth, at least in comparison with the surrounding terrain. This is particularly so in an arc along the northern inner wall. The southern half of the crater is somewhat more irregular, although still forming level plains in places. There are many small craters across the interior of Planck, and a few ghost-crater remnants.

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 Planck.

References

External links

Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
''

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

'' (USGS), Jennifer Blue

Formation

Description

Satellite craters

See also

References

External links

Further reading