Bessel (crater)

lunar crater data


caption=Lunar crater Bessel from Apollo 15. NASA photo.
latitude=21.8
N_or_S=N
longitude=17.9
E_or_W=E
diameter=16 km
depth=1.7 km
colong=342
eponym=Friedrich W. Bessel

Bessel is a small lunar crater that is located in the southern half of the Mare Serenitatis. Despite its small size, this is the largest crater to lie entirely within the mare. It lies to the north-northeast of the crater Menelaus.

This crater is circular and bowl-shaped with a rim that has a higher albedo than the floor or the surrounding mare. The outer rim is not significantly worn, and there are no features of note on the interior, apart from some slumping of material from the inner walls to the floor. Bessel is not of sufficient size to have developed the structures of larger craters. It was named after Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel.

A large ray, most likely from Tycho, crosses the mare from north to south, passing Bessel's western side.

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 Bessel.

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.
* Bessel A — "See" Sarabhai (crater).
* Bessel E — "See" Bobillier (crater).

References