Taruntius (crater)

lunar crater data
latitude=5.6
N_or_S=N
longitude=46.5
E_or_W=E
diameter=56 km
depth=1.0 km
colong=314
eponym=Lucius T. Firmanus

Taruntius is a lunar crater on the northwest edge of Mare Fecunditatis. To the northwest is the lava-flooded Lawrence crater, and to the north lie Watts and da Vinci craters. The surface about Taruntius has an unusual number of ghost-craters and lava-flooded features, especially to the southwest in the Mare Fecunditatis.

The outer rim of Taruntius is shallow, but forms a veined, complex rampart in the nearby mare, especially to the north and southwest. The rim is broken in the northwest by the small Cameron crater. The inner rim face lacks s, but in the interior is an unusual concentric inner rim that is heavily worn and irregular. This is a floor-fractured crater, possibly created by an uplift of mare material from beneath the interior. There is a low central peak complex in the middle of the relatively flat interior floor. There are also some slender rilles that are concentric to the rim.

The crater has a pair of faint dark patches. One patch is located just south of the central peak and the other falls on the sides of the northern rim near Cameron. These were likely created by deposits of volcanic ash from small vents. Taruntius has a ray system with a radius of over 300 kilometers, and is probably less than a billion years of age.

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 Taruntius crater.

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.
* Taruntius A — "See" Asada crater.
* Taruntius C — "See" Cameron crater.
* Taruntius D — "See" Watts crater.
* Taruntius E — "See" Zähringer crater.
* Taruntius G — "See" Anville crater.
* Taruntius M — "See" Lawrence crater.
* Taruntius N — "See" Smithson crater.

References

* cite web
last = Wood | first = Chuck | date = 2006-09-19
url = http://www.lpod.org/?m=20060919
title = Terrific Taruntius
publisher = Lunar Photo of the Day
accessdate = 2006-09-19