Taruntius (crater)
Encyclopedia
Taruntius is a lunar
crater
on the northwestern edge of Mare Fecunditatis
. To the northwest is the lava
-flooded crater Lawrence
, and to the north lie the craters Watts
and da Vinci
. The surface about Taruntius has an unusual number of ghost craters
and lava-flooded features, especially to the southwest in the Mare Fecunditatis.
The outer rim of Taruntius is shallow, but forms a veined, complex rampart in the nearby mare, especially to the north and southwest. The rim is broken in the northwest by the small crater Cameron
. The inner rim face lacks terraces, but in the interior is an unusual concentric inner rim that is heavily worn and irregular. This is a floor-fractured crater, possibly created by an uplift of mare material from beneath the interior. There is a low central peak complex in the middle of the relatively flat interior floor. There are also some slender rille
s that are concentric to the rim.
The crater has a pair of faint dark patches. One patch is located just south of the central peak and the other falls on the sides of the northern rim near Cameron. These were likely created by deposits of volcanic ash from small vents. Taruntius has a ray system
with a radius of over 300 kilometers, and is probably less than a billion years old.
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU
.
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...
on the northwestern edge of Mare Fecunditatis
Mare Fecunditatis
Mare Fecunditatis is a lunar mare which is 840 km in diameter. The Fecuditatis basin formed in the Pre-Nectarian epoch, while the basin material surrounding the mare is of the...
. To the northwest is the 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...
-flooded crater Lawrence
Lawrence (crater)
Lawrence is a lunar crater that is located on a section of terrain to the east of Mare Tranquillitatis and northwest of Mare Fecunditatis. To the southeast is the larger crater Taruntius...
, and to the north lie the craters Watts
Watts (crater)
Watts is a small lunar crater that is located at the extreme northern edge of the Mare Fecunditatis. Just one crater diameter to the northwest is the irregular da Vinci. Farther to the south is the larger crater Taruntius....
and da Vinci
Da Vinci (lunar crater)
da Vinci is a lunar crater that is located in the eastern part of the Moon, to the northwest of Mare Fecunditatis. It lies along the eastern shore of the Sinus Concordiae, a bay along the eastern edge of Mare Tranquillitatis...
. The surface about Taruntius has an unusual number of ghost craters
Palimpsest
A palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book from which the text has been scraped off and which can be used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin palimpsēstus from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος originally compounded from πάλιν and ψάω literally meaning “scraped...
and lava-flooded features, especially to the southwest in the Mare Fecunditatis.
The outer rim of Taruntius is shallow, but forms a veined, complex rampart in the nearby mare, especially to the north and southwest. The rim is broken in the northwest by the small crater Cameron
Cameron (crater)
Cameron is a small lunar impact crater that lies across the northwest rim of the crater Taruntius. This formation is circular and cup-shaped, with no particular distinguishing features. It was previously designated Taruntius C before being named by the IAU....
. The inner rim face lacks terraces, but in the interior is an unusual concentric inner rim that is heavily worn and irregular. This is a floor-fractured crater, possibly created by an uplift of mare material from beneath the interior. There is a low central peak complex in the middle of the relatively flat interior floor. There are also some slender 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 are concentric to the rim.
The crater has a pair of faint dark patches. One patch is located just south of the central peak and the other falls on the sides of the northern rim near Cameron. These were likely created by deposits of volcanic ash from small vents. Taruntius has a ray system
Ray system
A ray system comprises radial streaks of fine ejecta thrown out during the formation of an impact crater, looking a bit like many thin spokes coming from the hub of a wheel. The rays can extend for lengths up to several times the diameter of their originating crater, and are often accompanied by...
with a radius of over 300 kilometers, and is probably less than a billion years old.
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 Taruntius.| Taruntius | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | 3.3° N | 46.6° E | 7 km |
| F | 4.0° N | 40.5° E | 11 km |
| H | 0.3° N | 49.9° E | 8 km |
| K | 0.6° N | 51.6° E | 5 km |
| L | 5.5° N | 44.4° E | 14 km |
| O | 2.2° N | 54.3° E | 7 km |
| P | 0.1° N | 51.6° E | 7 km |
| R | 6.1° N | 47.9° E | 5 km |
| S | 4.9° N | 42.4° E | 5 km |
| T | 3.4° N | 47.5° E | 10 km |
| U | 5.6° N | 50.1° E | 12 km |
| V | 4.5° N | 49.8° E | 21 km |
| W | 5.5° N | 48.9° E | 15 km |
| X | 7.7° N | 53.0° E | 23 km |
| Z | 7.6° N | 44.9° E | 17 km |
The following craters have been renamed 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...
.
- Taruntius A — See Asada craterAsada (crater)Asada is a small lunar impact crater located at the northern edge of Mare Fecunditatis, to the northeast of the crater Taruntius. It is a circular crater formation with inner walls that slope down toward a small central floor at the mid-point. Asada was designated Taruntius A prior to being named...
. - Taruntius C — See Cameron craterCameron (crater)Cameron is a small lunar impact crater that lies across the northwest rim of the crater Taruntius. This formation is circular and cup-shaped, with no particular distinguishing features. It was previously designated Taruntius C before being named by the IAU....
. - Taruntius D — See Watts craterWatts (crater)Watts is a small lunar crater that is located at the extreme northern edge of the Mare Fecunditatis. Just one crater diameter to the northwest is the irregular da Vinci. Farther to the south is the larger crater Taruntius....
. - Taruntius E — See Zähringer craterZähringer (crater)Zähringer is a small lunar impact crater located near the southeast fringes of Mare Tranquillitatis. To the northeast is the flooded crater Lawrence, and to the southeast are the Montes Secchi mountains and the crater Secchi. Farther to the east lies Taruntius. Zähringer is a circular, bowl-shaped...
. - Taruntius G — See Anville craterAnville (crater)Anville is a relatively small, solitary lunar crater located in the north part of the Mare Fecunditatis. This is a circular, cup-shaped formation with a sharp edge and little appearance of wear. Some minor slumping has occurred in the eastern half of the interior wall. It was designated...
. - Taruntius M — See Lawrence craterLawrence (crater)Lawrence is a lunar crater that is located on a section of terrain to the east of Mare Tranquillitatis and northwest of Mare Fecunditatis. To the southeast is the larger crater Taruntius...
. - Taruntius N — See Smithson craterSmithson (crater)Smithson is a small lunar impact crater located in the northeast part of Mare Fecunditatis. It is a circular, cup-shaped feature with a slightly higher albedo than the surrounding, dark lunar mare. It was previously identified as Taruntius N before being renamed by the IAU. Taruntius itself lies to...
.