Sundman 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 just past the western limb 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 ...

. Although it lies on the far side 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 ...

, this part of the surface is brought into view during periods of favorable

libration In lunar astronomy, libration is the cyclic variation in the apparent position of the Moon that is perceived by observers on the Earth and caused by changes between the orbital and rotational planes of the moon. It causes an observer to see ...

and illumination. Sundman lies to the southwest of the walled plain

Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

, and to the west of the

Vallis Bohr Vallis Bohr is a valley on the Moon stretching due south of the crater Einstein. This wide cleft has a length of about 80 kilometers, and is radial to the Mare Orientale impact basin further to the south. The selenographic coordinates of this fe ...

cleft. It was named after Finnish mathematician and astronomer Karl F. Sundman.

Description

This crater lies in the midst of the skirt of ejecta that surrounds the

Mare Orientale Mare Orientale (Latin ''orientāle'', the "eastern sea") is a lunar mare. It is located on the western border of the near side and far side of the Moon, and is difficult to see from an Earthbound perspective. Images from spacecraft have revea ...

impact basin. Both the crater and its surroundings have been modified by this enormous amount of material, and the surface displays an uneven pattern that is generally radial to the basin, which is located to the north. The crater forms a shallow depression in the surface, with small craters along the southeastern and southwestern rim.

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 Sundman. Sundman J crater Clementine UVVIS 750nm

LADEE impact

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission ended with a planned lunar impact on April 18, 2014. Later, the exact impact location was found to be near the eastern rim of Sundman V crater.

Description

Satellite craters

LADEE impact

See also

References

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