 Oblique view from Apollo 16 showing bright rays | |
| Coordinates | 0°24′S 32°42′E / 0.4°S 32.7°E / -0.4; 32.7 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 4.10 km (2.55 mi)1 |
| Depth | 0.039 km (0.024 mi)2 |
| Colongitude | 328° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Censorinus |
Censorinus is a 3.8 km lunar impact crater located on a rise to the southeast of the Mare Tranquillitatis. British astronomer T. W. Webb called this "a minute crater, with its vicinity is very brilliant" during full Moon.3 To the northwest is the crater Maskelyne.
Censorinus is distinguished by an area of high-albedo material surrounding the rim. This makes the feature highly prominent when the Sun is at a high angle, and it is one of the brightest objects on the visible Moon. Bright streaks radiate away radially from the crater, and contrast with the darker lunar mare.
This formation has a sharp-edged, raised, pear-shaped4 rim and a symmetrical, cup-shaped interior. Close-up photographs of this crater by Lunar Orbiter 5 and later from orbit by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show many large blocks lying along the sloping outer rampart.5 The surface near the crater is hummocky from the deposited ejecta. The crater is otherwise undistinguished.
This crater is named after the ancient Roman writer Censorinus (fl. c. 238). Its designation was officially adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1935.1 The name was first incorporated into lunar nomenclature by Italian selenographer G. B. Riccioli in 1651.6
The vicinity of Censorinus was once considered for an early Apollo landing site.78 The proposed landing point would have been near the northwest rim, close enough for astronauts to walk to the rim to observe the crater interior and sample boulders of ejecta at various distances from the rim.
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 Censorinus.
| Censorinus9: 295 | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0.4° S | 33.0° E | 7 km |
| B | 2.0° S | 31.4° E | 8 km |
| C | 3.0° S | 34.1° E | 28 km |
| D | 1.9° S | 35.8° E | 10 km |
| E | 3.6° S | 34.8° E | 12 km |
| H | 1.8° S | 33.7° E | 10 km |
| J | 1.0° S | 31.3° E | 5 km |
| K | 1.0° S | 28.8° E | 4 km |
| L | 2.5° S | 31.2° E | 4 km |
| N | 1.9° S | 36.5° E | 36 km |
| S | 3.8° S | 36.1° E | 17 km |
| T | 3.2° S | 31.1° E | 5 km |
| U | 1.5° S | 34.4° E | 3 km |
| V | 0.6° S | 35.4° E | 4 km |
| W | 1.0° S | 37.5° E | 9 km |
| X | 0.5° S | 37.2° E | 18 km |
| Z | 3.7° S | 36.8° E | 12 km |
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.
- Censorinus F — See Leakey (crater).
-
Censorinus E
References
References
- "Censorinus". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
- Pike, R. J. (September 1976). "Crater Dimensions from Apollo Data and Supplemental Sources". The Moon. 15 (3–4): 463–477. Bibcode:1976Moon...15..463P. doi:10.1007/BF00562253.
- Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. pp. 144, 154–159. Reprint: ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3
- Wegener, A. (February 1970). "The origin of the lunar craters" (PDF). NASA Contractor Report. NAS7-100. Bibcode:1970ntrs.rept14279W. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- Krishna, N.; Kumar, P. Senthil (January 2016). "Impact spallation processes on the Moon: A case study from the size and shape analysis of ejecta boulders and secondary craters of Censorinus crater". Icarus. 264: 274–299. Bibcode:2016Icar..264..274K. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.09.033.
- Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. pp. 61–62, 311. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
- Wilhelms, Don E. (1993). To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-1065-8.
- El-Baz, Farouk (1968). Geologic Characteristics of the Nine Lunar Landing Mission Sites Recommended by the Group for Lunar Exploration Planning. Contractor Report. Bellcomm, Inc. TR-68-340-1. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
- Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
Sources
- Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
- Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
- Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
- Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.
External links
External links
- Lunar Photo of the Day, "Land of Manna", October 5, 2006, showing Censorinus, and Censorius C, noted as similar to Gaudibert crater