Ibn Firnas (crater)
Encyclopedia
Ibn Firnas is a lunar
impact crater
on the far side of the Moon
, in honour of Abbas Ibn Firnas
( a polymath from Andalucia, Spain), who is regarded as the first man to have attempted flying with evidence of some success. Attached to the exterior of its southwestern rim is the prominent crater King
. Only a few kilometers to the north, separated by a rugged stretch of terrain
, is the larger crater Ostwald
.
This is a worn and eroded crater with small impacts along the northern and eastern rims. The satellite crater Ibn Firnas L lies along the inner wall to the southeast and covers part of the interior floor. Along the northern side, the small satellite crater Ibn Firnas Y cuts through the rim and overlays part of the inner wall. The interior floor is irregular along the northern and southwest sections where their shape has been modified by the large nearby craters mentioned above. Several small craterlets lie across the remainder of the interior floor.
. These are listed in the table below.
The crater Melissa lies across the north-northwestern outer rim of Ibn Firnas. It is a roughly bowl-shaped, although it has a very uneven appearance due to the irregular terrain in which it was formed. Melissa was previously designated Ibn Firnas Y before it was assigned a name by the IAU
.
The locations of these craters are shown on the following L&PI topographic map
s:
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...
on 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...
, in honour of Abbas Ibn Firnas
Abbas Ibn Firnas
Abbas Ibn Firnas , also known as Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas and عباس بن فرناس , was a Muslim Andalusian polymath: an inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet, and Andalusian musician. Of Berber descent, he was born in Izn-Rand Onda, Al-Andalus , and lived in the Emirate of Córdoba...
( a polymath from Andalucia, Spain), who is regarded as the first man to have attempted flying with evidence of some success. Attached to the exterior of its southwestern rim is the prominent crater King
King (crater)
King is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, and can not be viewed directly from Earth. It forms a pair with Ibn Firnas, which is only slightly larger and is attached to the northeast rim of King...
. Only a few kilometers to the north, separated by a rugged stretch of terrain
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
, is the larger crater Ostwald
Ostwald (crater)
Ostwald is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. It lies just to the east of the crater Guyot, and near the northern border of Ibn Firnas. Recht lies along its eastern rim....
.
This is a worn and eroded crater with small impacts along the northern and eastern rims. The satellite crater Ibn Firnas L lies along the inner wall to the southeast and covers part of the interior floor. Along the northern side, the small satellite crater Ibn Firnas Y cuts through the rim and overlays part of the inner wall. The interior floor is irregular along the northern and southwest sections where their shape has been modified by the large nearby craters mentioned above. Several small craterlets lie across the remainder of the interior floor.
Nearby craters
Several small craters located in the rugged terrain at the northern edge of this crater have been assigned names by the IAUInternational 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...
. These are listed in the table below.
| Crater | Coordinates Selenographic coordinates Selenographic coordinates are used to refer to locations on the surface of Earth's moon. Any position on the lunar surface can be referenced by specifying two numerical values, which are comparable to the latitude and longitude of Earth... |
Diameter | Name source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carol | 8.5°N 122.3°E | 8 km | Latin Latin Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and... feminine name |
| Ewen | 7.7°N 121.4°E | 3 km | Gaelic masculine name |
| Kasper | 8.3°N 122.1°E | 12 km | Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries... masculine name |
| Melissa | 8.1°N 121.8°E | 18 km | Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... feminine name |
| Romeo | 7.5°N 122.6°E | 8 km | Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... masculine name |
| Shahinaz | 7.5°N 122.4°E | 15 km | Turkish Turkish language Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,... feminine name |
The crater Melissa lies across the north-northwestern outer rim of Ibn Firnas. It is a roughly bowl-shaped, although it has a very uneven appearance due to the irregular terrain in which it was formed. Melissa was previously designated Ibn Firnas Y before it was assigned a name by the 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...
.
The locations of these craters are shown on the following L&PI topographic map
Topographic map
A topographic map is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief, usually using contour lines in modern mapping, but historically using a variety of methods. Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and man-made features...
s:
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 Ibn Firnas.| Ibn Firnas | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | 7.5° N | 125.5° E | 42 km |
| L | 5.9° N | 123.0° E | 21 km |