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Schiller (crater)
Encyclopedia
Schiller is an oddly shaped lunar
impact crater
located in the southwestern sector of the Moon. To the east is the crater Bayer
and to the southeast is Rost
.
The rim of Schiller has an elongated shape that is amplified by its proximity to the lunar limb. The long axis
lies along a line running northwest–southeast, with the wider girth
located in the southeastern half. There is a slight bend in the elongation, with the concave side facing to the northeast. Schiller appears to be a fusion of two or more craters and bears a superficial resemblance to the footprint left by a shoe.
The crater rim is well-defined, with a terraced inner wall and a slight outer rampart. At the southeastern end, a smaller crater is connected to Schiller by a wide valley. Most of the crater floor is flat, most likely due to lava
flooding. There are some bright patches that are most clearly visible under a high sun angle. A double ridge lies along the center of the northwest crater floor, forming a nearly linear formation that divides the floor in half.
Southwest of Schiller is an unnamed area of mare
, possibly the remains of an ancient formation that has had its outer walls completely eroded away. This basin has received the unofficial designation 'Schiller Annular Plain' among lunar observers.
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...
impact 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...
located in the southwestern sector of the Moon. To the east is the crater Bayer
Bayer (crater)
Bayer is a lunar impact crater located in the southwest section of the moon, to the east of the crater Schiller. The rim of Bayer is slightly worn by erosion, but remains well-defined. There is an inner terrace, but the outer wall is intruded upon by nearby impacts. The most significant of these is...
and to the southeast is Rost
Rost (crater)
Rost is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southwestern part of the Moon, to the southeast of the elongated formation Schiller. To the southeast of Rost is the larger crater Scheiner. West-southwest of this formation is the smaller Weigel....
.
The rim of Schiller has an elongated shape that is amplified by its proximity to the lunar limb. The long axis
Ellipse
In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...
lies along a line running northwest–southeast, with the wider girth
Girth
In graph theory, the girth of a graph is the length of a shortest cycle contained in the graph. If the graph does not contain any cycles , its girth is defined to be infinity....
located in the southeastern half. There is a slight bend in the elongation, with the concave side facing to the northeast. Schiller appears to be a fusion of two or more craters and bears a superficial resemblance to the footprint left by a shoe.
The crater rim is well-defined, with a terraced inner wall and a slight outer rampart. At the southeastern end, a smaller crater is connected to Schiller by a wide valley. Most of the crater floor is flat, most likely due to 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...
flooding. There are some bright patches that are most clearly visible under a high sun angle. A double ridge lies along the center of the northwest crater floor, forming a nearly linear formation that divides the floor in half.
Southwest of Schiller is an unnamed area of 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...
, possibly the remains of an ancient formation that has had its outer walls completely eroded away. This basin has received the unofficial designation 'Schiller Annular Plain' among lunar observers.