Cardanus (crater)

lunar crater data


caption=Cardanus crater is in the middle and Krafft crater is to the upper left. Also visible is the "Rima Cardanus" between them and Galilaei crater beyond.
latitude=13.2
N_or_S=N
longitude=72.4
E_or_W=W
diameter=50 km
depth=1.3 km
colong=72
eponym=Girolamo Cardano

Cardanus is a lunar impact crater that is located in the western part of the Moon, in the western part of the Oceanus Procellarum mare. Due to its location the crater appears very oval because of foreshortening, and it is viewed almost from the side.

Cardanus is distinctive for the chain of craters, designated Catena Krafft, that connect its northern rim with Krafft crater to the north. The outer rim is sharp-edged and somewhat irregular, with a hummocky outer rampart and s along parts of the inner wall. The crater floor has several small craterlets across its surface, and it has a low ridge near the mid-point. The floor surface is somewhat irregular in the southwest, but nearly featureless elsewhere.

To the southwest is the rille designated "Rima Cardanus", a cleft in the mare that generally follows a northeasterly direction. To the southeast, beyond the rille, is the small Galilaei crater. Southwest of Cardanus is Olbers crater.

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 Cardanus crater.

References