Komarov (crater)
Encyclopedia
Komarov is a lunar
crater
that lies across the southeastern edge of Mare Moscoviense
, on the northern hemisphere
of the far side of the Moon
. It is a complex feature with an irregular appearance.
The northern rim of Komarov bulges outwards into the mare
, giving the crater a pear shape. The regions around the northeastern and southern rims are rugged and uneven, and the crater floor in between has been resurfaced by lava flows that have completely submerged the western third of the interior. This surface is marked by a pattern of multiple rille
s that run primarily in a north–south direction, but are cracked like a drying mud bed. Along the interior of the eastern rim is a cleft-like formation that curves along the inner rim. The northwestern rim has an outer rampart where it slopes down to the plain of the neighboring mare.
The crater is named after Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov (1927--1967).
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...
that lies across the southeastern edge of Mare Moscoviense
Mare Moscoviense
Mare Moscoviense is a lunar mare that sits in the Moscoviense basin. It is one of the very few maria on the far side of the Moon. Like Mare Marginis, this mare appears to be fairly thin. However, it is clearly centered within a large impact basin...
, on the northern hemisphere
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...
of the far side 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...
. It is a complex feature with an irregular appearance.
The northern rim of Komarov bulges outwards into the mare
Lunar mare
The lunar maria are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for "seas", by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich compositions, and...
, giving the crater a pear shape. The regions around the northeastern and southern rims are rugged and uneven, and the crater floor in between has been resurfaced by lava flows that have completely submerged the western third of the interior. This surface is marked by a pattern of multiple rille
Rille
Rille is typically used to describe any of the long, narrow depressions in the lunar surface that resemble channels. Typically a rille can be up to several kilometers wide and hundreds of kilometers in length...
s that run primarily in a north–south direction, but are cracked like a drying mud bed. Along the interior of the eastern rim is a cleft-like formation that curves along the inner rim. The northwestern rim has an outer rampart where it slopes down to the plain of the neighboring mare.
The crater is named after Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov (1927--1967).