Yerkes (crater)

Yerkes
LRO satellite image including its only satellite crater, Yerkes E
Coordinates 14°36′N 51°42′E / 14.6°N 51.7°E / 14.6; 51.7Coordinates: 14°36′N 51°42′E / 14.6°N 51.7°E / 14.6; 51.7
Diameter 36 km
Depth None
Colongitude 310° at sunrise
Eponym Charles T. Yerkes
Oblique view from Apollo 15
Yerkes and its satellite crater taken from Earth in 2012 at the University of Hertfordshire's Bayfordbury Observatory with the telescopes Meade LX200 14" and Lumenera Skynyx 2-1

Yerkes is a lunar impact crater near the western edge of Mare Crisium. At this location as does with other craters at that longitude, on Earth, the crater appears oval due to foreshortening, but the crater is actually nearly circular. To the east of Yerkes is the crater Picard, to the southeast are the Greaves-Lick crater pair, to the southwest is Glaisher, about 115 km west-northwest is Proclus, and farther to the north is Peirce.

In the past the interior of this crater has been almost completely inundated by lava, leaving only a shallow remnant of a rim above the mare. The rim is widest on the western and southern portions, and barely existent to the east, forming a thin curve in the surface. A low ridge runs from the north rim to Yerkes E in the north-northwest. The floor has a similar albedo to the nearby mare, so the feature is not sharply distinguished from the surroundings. The crater has a rounded hill in the center that rises approximately 150 m above the surrounding crater floor. Inside the crater are a few small rays that originated from Proclus, and a few are also found north of the crater and around Yerkes E.

Touching the eastern crater rim is Dorsum Oppel, a wrinkle ridge that trends northeast, and which is approximately 268 km long.

From that location the Earth would mainly appear in the lunar sky at 14 degrees from the top and it is seen more than 51 degrees towards the east.

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 Yerkes. Yerkes E was approved by the IAU in 2006, and V was approved in 2018.

Yerkes Latitude Longitude Diameter
E 15.90° N 50.67° E 9.91 km
V 15.24° N 50.49° E 3.7 km

References

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