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Fowler (crater)

Fowler
LRO image
Coordinates42°35′N 145°16′W / 42.59°N 145.27°W / 42.59; -145.27
Diameter139.52 km (86.69 mi)
DepthUnknown
Colongitude212° at sunrise
FormationPre-Nectarian[1]
EponymAlfred Fowler
Ralph H. Fowler
Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image
(band crossing image is artifact of original)

Fowler is a large lunar impact crater that lies in the northern hemisphere on the Moon's far side.[2] It lies to the south-southwest of the crater Esnault-Pelterie, and north of Gadomski. Overlying the eastern rim and intruding into the interior is Von Zeipel.

The outer rim of this crater has become worn and rounded by impact erosion until it has become little more than an irregular slope down to the interior depression. The infrared spectrum of pure crystalline plagioclase has been identified around the rim.[3] A number of small craters lie along the rim and the inner wall. An impact along the northeast rim, just north of Von Zeipel, has a relatively high albedo and is surrounded by a skirt of bright material. This is indicative of a relatively recent impact that has not had time to darken due to space weathering.

The eastern part of the interior floor is partly overlaid by the outer rampart and ejecta from Von Zeipel. The southern floor is marked by an arc of small impacts. The northern floor is more level and is marked only by a few small craterlets.

Prior to formal naming by the IAU in 1970,[4] Fowler was called Crater 83.[5] A crater to the west of Fowler that is currently unnamed was called Crater 81.

Satellite craters

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By convention, these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Fowler.

Fowler Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 46.3° N 145.0° W 52 km
C 45.0° N 141.9° W 32 km
N 40.1° N 146.1° W 39 km
R 42.2° N 150.1° W 18 km
W 46.0° N 150.2° W 31 km

References

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  1. Wilhelms, Don E.; McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. (1987). The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 149. doi:10.3133/pp1348.
  2. Moore, Patrick (2000). The Data Book of Astronomy. CRC Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-4200-3344-1.
  3. Donaldson Hanna, K. L.; et al. (July 2014). "Global assessment of pure crystalline plagioclase across the Moon and implications for the evolution of the primary crust". Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. 119 (7): 1516–1545. Bibcode:2014JGRE..119.1516D. doi:10.1002/2013JE004476.
  4. Fowler, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  5. Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A), 2nd Edition October 1967

Sources

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