Rupes Cauchy is a 120 km-long escarpment at on the surface 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 faces southwest, and rises about 200–300 m. It is located in the northeastern portion of the

Mare Tranquillitatis Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin for Sea of Tranquillity or Sea of Tranquility) is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. It contains Tranquility Base, the first location on another celestial body to be visited by huma ...

, and is named after the nearby crater

Cauchy Baron Augustin-Louis Cauchy ( , , ; ; 21 August 1789 – 23 May 1857) was a French mathematician, engineer, and physicist. He was one of the first to rigorously state and prove the key theorems of calculus (thereby creating real a ...

. The east end of Rupes Cauchy emerges from the highlands on the eastern margin of Mare Tranquillitatis. The 3.6 km diameter crater Cauchy C intersects the Rupes due south of Cauchy crater itself. Cauchy E and F lie to the north side of the Rupes, and Cauchy B lies on the south side. At the west end of the Rupes are two similar-sized elongate depressions (unlikely to be impact craters). Between Cauchy B and the depressions the Rupes form an en echelon pattern, similar to that of veins within rock on earth, on a grand scale. The similar-sized craters Sinas J and H lie to the west of the depressions. Rupes Cauchy casts a thin shadow about five days after the

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

, when the sunrise terminator is nearby and the sunlight is arriving at a low angle. The feature name is shown as ''Fossa Casals'' on a 1974 mapLTO-61A3 Cauchy
Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series based on

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo program and the fourth Moon landing. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greate ...

photographs, but the name was not approved 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 ...

.Rupes Cauchy
Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) The term ''Rupes'' was used in favor of ''Fossa'' for the names of lunar scarps (such as

Rupes Recta Rupes Recta is a linear fault on the Moon, in the southeastern part of the Mare Nubium at . The name is Latin for ''straight cliff'', although it is more commonly called the ''Straight Wall''. This is the best-known escarpment on the Moon, and is ...

Rupes Altai Rupes Altai is an escarpment in the lunar surface that is located in the southeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side. It is named for the Altai Mountains in Asia, and is the most prominent lunar escarpment. The selenographic coordinates of this ...

References

Escarpments on the Moon {{Escarpments on the Moon