Alder (crater)
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| Crater characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 48.6° S, 177.4° W |
| Diameter | 77 km |
| Depth | Unknown |
| Colongitude | 180° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Kurt Alder |
Alder is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It is located in the South Pole-Aitken basin, and lies to the southeast of the Von Kármán crater. Southeast of Alder is the Bose crater, and to the south-southwest lies the Boyle crater.
The inner wall of Alder is rough and slightly terraced, with the material scattered across the edges of the otherwise relatively flat interior floor. There are several low central ridges lying along a band from the mid-point toward the eastern rim. A small crater lies on the eastern inner slopes. The crater is otherwise free of significant impacts within the rim.
Alder crater is associated with the only area in the basin not dominated by the pyroxene rocks typical of lunar lowlands. This alder ejecta area is on spectrographic evidence instead principally anorthosite rock, typical of the lunar highlands.
[edit] 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 Alder crater.
| Alder | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | 47.6° S | 172.3° W | 16 km |
[edit] References
- See the reference table for the general listing of literature and web sites that were used in the compilation of this page.
[edit] External links
- Taylor, G. J. (July, 1998) The Biggest Hole in the Solar System. Planetary Science Research Discoveries. http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/July98/spa.html (This article on South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin mentions Alder crater.)
