Picard (crater)

lunar crater data
latitude=14.6
N_or_S=N
longitude=54.7
E_or_W=E
diameter=23 km
depth=2.4 km
colong=306
eponym=Jean Picard

Picard is a lunar impact crater that lies in the western part of the Mare Crisium. To the west is the almost completely flooded crater Yerkes. Due east of Picard is the tiny Curtis. It is the largest crater on the mare, being slightly larger than Peirce to the north-northwest. The crater is named for 17th century French astronomer and geodesist Jean Picard."Autostar Suite Astronomer Edition". CD-ROM. Meade, April 2006.]

Picard is a crater from the Eratosthenian period, which lasted from 3.2 to 1.1 billion years ago. Inside Picard is a series of terraces that seismologists have attributed to a collapse of the crater floor. The lowest point on the crater floor is approximately 2000 meters below its rim. [cite web
title=Picard Crater | work=vgl.org
url=http://www.vgl.org/webfiles/lan/picard.htm
accessdate=October 18
accessyear=2007] The crater rim of Picard is well-defined and shows little sign of wear, having a sharp-edged appearance. It has a small hill at the center. [Moore, Patrick (2001). "On the Moon". Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-304-35469-4. ]

atellite 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 Picard. [cite book
author=Bussey, B.; Spudis, P.,
year=2004 | title=The Clementine Atlas of the Moon
publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=New York
id=ISBN 0-521-81528-2 ]

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.

* Picard G — "See" Tebbutt.
* Picard H — "See" Shapley.
* Picard X — "See" Fahrenheit.
* Picard Z — "See" Curtis.

References