Sinus Lunicus (;

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "Bay of Lunik") is an area of

lunar mare The lunar maria ( ; mare ) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by lava flowing into ancient impact basins. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich composition, and hence appear dark to ...

along the southeast edge of the

Mare Imbrium Mare Imbrium (Latin ''imbrium'', the "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains") is a vast lunar mare, lava plain within the Imbrium Basin on the Moon and is one of the larger craters in the Solar System. The Imbrium Basin formed from the collision ...

on the Earth's Moon. It is formed by the area enclosed by the prominent craters

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...

to the southwest,

Autolycus In Greek mythology, Autolycus (; ) was a robber who had the power to metamorphose or make invisible the things he stole. He had his residence on Mount Parnassus and was renowned among men for his cunning and oaths. Family There are a number of d ...

to the southeast, and

Aristillus Aristyllus (; fl. c. 261 BC) was a Greek astronomer, presumably of the school of Timocharis (c. 300 BC). He was among the earliest meridian-astronomy observers. Six of his stellar declinations are preserved at Almajest 7.3. All are exa ...

to the northeast. The bay is open to the northwest, and faces the

Montes Spitzbergen The Montes Spitzbergen (Spitzbergen Mountains) is a solitary mountain chain in the eastern Mare Imbrium of the Moon. It is located about 80 km to the north of the flooded crater Archimedes (crater), Archimedes. The range trends from south ...

, a small chain of mountains. Moon And Sinus Lunicus

This bay was named the ''Bay of Lunik'' by the

International Astronomical Union 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 ...

(IAU) in 1970 to honor the landing site of ''

Luna 2 ''Luna 2'' (), originally named the Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket and nicknamed Lunik 2 in contemporaneous media, was the sixth of the Soviet Union's Luna programme spacecraft launched to the Moon, E-1 No.7. It was the first spacecraft Moon landi ...

'', the first human space probe to make contact with another interplanetary body. The ''Luna 2'' landed in the gap between the craters Archimedes and Autolycus on September 14, 1959. The

selenographic coordinates The selenographic coordinate system is used to refer to locations on the surface of Earth's moon. Any position on the lunar surface can be referenced by specifying two numerical values, which are comparable to the latitude and longitude of Earth ...

of Sinus Lunicus are 32.4° N and 1.9° W. Its diameter is 120 kilometers. The most distinctive features on the bay are the complex outer

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

s of ejecta from the craters Aristillus and Autolycus, and the small satellite craters Archimedes C and Archimedes D. The

albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...

of the surface is brightened by overlapping ray material from Autolycus and Aristillus.

References

External links

Map of quadrangle LAC-25
USGS {{DEFAULTSORT:Lunicus, Sinus Maria on the Moon Mare Imbrium