Omar Khayyam (crater)
Encyclopedia
Omar Khayyam is a lunar
crater
that is located just beyond the northwestern limb of the Moon
, on the far side from the Earth
. It lies in a region of the surface that is sometimes brought into view of the Earth due to libration
, and under favorable lighting it can be viewed from the edge. However under such circumstances not much detail can be seen, and the crater is best viewed from orbit
.
This feature is located at the western edge of the larger walled plain Poczobutt
, and the northwestern rim of Omar Khayyam is overlain by the crater Zsigmondy
. The east-southeastern part of the interior floor of Omar Khayyam is overlain by a smaller and younger crater. The remainder of the interior floor is split in half by a ridge attached to the western outer rim of this crater, giving Omar Khayyam the appearance of a formation composed of multiple merged impacts.
The outer rim of Omar Khayyam is heavily eroded, and has a wide gap to the southeast. A small crater overlies the western rim, and multiple small craterlets mark the sides and parts of the interior. The floor to the southwest is somewhat smoother than elsewhere.
This crater was named in honor of the Persian
mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyám
.
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 is located just beyond the northwestern 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...
, on the far side 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 lies in a region of the surface that is sometimes brought into view of the Earth due to 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:...
, and under favorable lighting it can be viewed from the edge. However under such circumstances not much detail can be seen, and the crater is best viewed from orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
.
This feature is located at the western edge of the larger walled plain Poczobutt
Poczobutt (crater)
Poczobutt is a large lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the northwestern limb in an area occasionally brought into sight due to libration effects. This is a damaged formation that is partly overlain by several named craters. Across the rim to the...
, and the northwestern rim of Omar Khayyam is overlain by the crater Zsigmondy
Zsigmondy (crater)
Zsigmondy is a lunar crater located beyond the northwestern limb on the far side of the Moon. Attached to the southeastern rim of the crater is the crater Omar Khayyam, which lies within the much larger Poczobutt. Farther to the east, along the north rim of Poczobutt, is Smoluchowski.The rim of...
. The east-southeastern part of the interior floor of Omar Khayyam is overlain by a smaller and younger crater. The remainder of the interior floor is split in half by a ridge attached to the western outer rim of this crater, giving Omar Khayyam the appearance of a formation composed of multiple merged impacts.
The outer rim of Omar Khayyam is heavily eroded, and has a wide gap to the southeast. A small crater overlies the western rim, and multiple small craterlets mark the sides and parts of the interior. The floor to the southwest is somewhat smoother than elsewhere.
This crater was named in honor of the Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyám
Omar Khayyám
Omar Khayyám was aPersian polymath: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, climatology and theology....
.