Jeans (lunar crater)
Encyclopedia
Jeans is a lunar
crater
along the southeastern limb of the Moon
. The majority of this formation lies on the far side with respect to the Earth
, but favorable libration
s can bring the entire crater into view. Despite this, however, this crater is viewed from the side from Earth, limiting the amount of detail that can be observed.
This crater is located nearly midway between the much larger walled plain Lyot
on the near side and the crater Chamberlin
on the far side. It has a heavily worn and rounded outer rim, and several impacts lie along the southern and southeastern edge and inner wall. The most prominent of these intersecting craters are Jeans G across the eastern rim. The interior floor of Jeans has been resurfaced by basalt
ic lava
, leaving a dark level surface marked only by a few tiny craterlets.
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...
crater
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...
along the southeastern limb 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 majority of this formation lies on the far side with respect to 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...
, but favorable libration
Libration
In astronomy, libration is an oscillating motion of orbiting bodies relative to each other, notably including the motion of the Moon relative to Earth, or of Trojan asteroids relative to planets.-Lunar libration:...
s can bring the entire crater into view. Despite this, however, this crater is viewed from the side from Earth, limiting the amount of detail that can be observed.
This crater is located nearly midway between the much larger walled plain Lyot
Lyot (lunar crater)
Lyot is a large lunar crater that is located along the southeastern limb of the Moon. It lies within the irregular and patchy lunar mare named Mare Australe, and to the south of the crater Hamilton...
on the near side and the crater Chamberlin
Chamberlin (lunar crater)
Chamberlin is a lunar crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, just past the southeastern limb. It lies to the southeast of the crater Jeans, and Moulton is attached to the southeastern rim of Chamberlin...
on the far side. It has a heavily worn and rounded outer rim, and several impacts lie along the southern and southeastern edge and inner wall. The most prominent of these intersecting craters are Jeans G across the eastern rim. The interior floor of Jeans has been resurfaced by basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
ic lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
, leaving a dark level surface marked only by a few tiny craterlets.
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 Jeans.| Jeans | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 52.4° S | 94.8° E | 11 km |
| G | 56.0° S | 93.3° E | 22 km |
| N | 58.7° S | 90.5° E | 64 km |
| S | 56.8° S | 86.8° E | 56 km |
| U | 54.7° S | 86.5° E | 57 km |
| X | 53.5° S | 89.4° E | 44 km |
| Y | 51.2° S | 90.5° E | 17 km |