Cauchy (crater)

Cauchy
Apollo 15 image
Coordinates 9°36′N 38°36′E / 9.6°N 38.6°E / 9.6; 38.6Coordinates: 9°36′N 38°36′E / 9.6°N 38.6°E / 9.6; 38.6
Diameter 12 km
Depth 2.6 km
Colongitude 321° at sunrise
Eponym Augustin L. Cauchy

Cauchy is a small lunar impact crater on the eastern Mare Tranquillitatis, named after Augustin-Louis Cauchy[1]. It is circular and symmetric, with a small interior floor at the midpoint of the sloping inner walls. Due to the high albedo of this bowl-shaped formation, it is particularly prominent at full Moon.

Cauchy lies between the Rupes Cauchy and the Rimae Cauchy, as described below.

South of Rupes Cauchy are two lunar domes designated Omega (ω) Cauchy and Tau (τ) Cauchy. They lie to the south and southwest of Cauchy respectively. Each lunar dome has a small depression at its crest, which is likely to be a volcanic vent rather than an impact crater. The vent at the top of Omega Cauchy is called Donna.

Other prominent craters are da Vinci to the east and Sinas to the west.

Rupes Cauchy

Selenographic features around Cauchy as well as its satellite craters and the small Donna Crater to the south

To the south of Cauchy is a 120-km fault in the surface named the Rupes Cauchy, which forms a series of cliffs or escarpments. This wall roughly parallels the Rima Cauchy to the north.

Rima Cauchy

To the north of Cauchy is the rille named Rima Cauchy, a 210-kilometer-long graben.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Cauchy.

Cauchy is in the upper right quadrant between Rupes Cauchy and Rimae Cauchy in this Apollo 8 image. Omega and Tau Cauchy are visible below the Rupes Cauchy.
Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Cauchy Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 12.1° N 37.9° E 8 km
B 9.8° N 35.8° E 6 km
C 8.2° N 38.9° E 4 km
D 10.0° N 40.3° E 9 km
E 8.9° N 38.6° E 4 km
F 9.6° N 36.8° E 4 km
M 7.6° N 35.1° E 5 km
U 8.8° N 42.3° E 5 km
V 9.0° N 41.5° E 5 km
W 10.6° N 41.6° E 4 km

Cauchy A is shown as Hussein on a 1974 map[2] based on Apollo 15 photographs, but the name was not approved by the IAU, which officially designated the crater name in 2006.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Cauchy A, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  2. ↑ LTO-61A3 Cauchy, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series

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