Tempel (crater)

Tempel
Mosaic of Lunar Orbiter 4 images
Coordinates 3°54′N 11°54′E / 3.9°N 11.9°E / 3.9; 11.9Coordinates: 3°54′N 11°54′E / 3.9°N 11.9°E / 3.9; 11.9
Diameter 45 km
Depth 1.3 km
Colongitude 348° at sunrise
Eponym Ernest W. L. Tempel

Tempel is the remnant of a lunar impact crater whose outer rim has been eroded, indented, and reshaped by subsequent impacts and lava flows. It is attached to the eastern rim of the crater Agrippa, in an area that has been resurfaced by old lava flows. More than 40 km southwest is Godin, and 25 km to the east lies the small, bowl-shaped Whewell.

The crater is named after an astronomer Ernest W. Leberecht Tempel who discovered 9P/Tempel (Tempel 1), 10P/Tempel (Tempel 2) and two other comets.

Its diameter is 45 km long and is 1,300 meters deep. Also, the area is more than 600 km² and the perimeter is around 100 km.

There is a gap in the northwestern rim of Tempel that forms a protrusion that follows the rim of Agrippa. Smaller gaps exist in the southern rim, and the relatively flat interior surface of the crater is joined by these valley clefts to the lava-covered exterior. From here the flow can be followed eastwards until it joins the Mare Tranquillitatis. Little of the original rim remains intact, and the formation is now a somewhat circular range of rounded, irregular ridges.

References

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