Daedalus (crater)
Encyclopedia
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
located near the center of the far side
Far side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned away, and is not visible from the surface of the Earth. The far hemisphere was first photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, and was first directly observed by human eyes when the Apollo 8 mission orbited the Moon...
of the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. The inner wall is terraced, and there is a cluster of central peaks on the relatively flat floor. Because of its location (shielded from radio emissions from the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
), it has been proposed as the site of a future giant radio telescope
Radio telescope
A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...
, which would be scooped out of the crater itself, much like the Arecibo radio telescope, but on a vastly larger scale.
The crater is named after Daedalus
Daedalus
In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful craftsman and artisan.-Family:...
of Greek myth. It is pictured in famous photographs taken by the Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
astronauts. In contemporary sources it was called "Crater 308" (this was a temporary IAU
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...
designation that preceded the establishment of far-side lunar nomenclature).
Nearby craters of note include Icarus
Icarus (crater)
Icarus is a lunar impact crater that lies on the Moon's far side. It is located to the west of the huge walled plain Korolev, and less than two crater diameters to the east of the crater Daedalus. To the south of Icarus is the smaller Amici....
to the east and Racah
Racah (crater)
Racah is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies almost due south of the larger crater Daedalus, and lies across lunar longitude 180°W, i.e. the longitude that is diametrically opposite to the Earth...
to the south. Less than a crater diameter to the north-northeast is Lipskiy
Lipskiy (crater)
Lipskiy is a lunar crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies just to the south of the lunar equator, and is the closest named crater to the antipode of the Earth zenith point. That is, it lies in the region of the Moon that is the most distant from the Earth. Lipskiy is located less than one...
.
Satellite craters
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater mid-point that is closest to Daedalus.| Daedalus | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 4.1° S | 179.8° W | 23 km |
| C | 4.1° S | 178.9° W | 68 km |
| G | 6.6° S | 177.4° W | 33 km |
| K | 8.3° S | 178.5° W | 24 km |
| M | 8.1° S | 179.5° E | 13 km |
| R | 7.7° S | 175.2° E | 41 km |
| S | 6.8° S | 172.9° E | 20 km |
| U | 4.2° S | 174.9° E | 30 km |
| W | 3.5° S | 177.5° E | 70 km |