Schrödinger (crater)

lunar crater data


caption=Crater view from Clementine spacecraft. Note the incomplete inner ring. "NASA photo."
latitude=75.0
N_or_S=S
longitude=132.4
E_or_W=E
diameter=312 km
depth="Unknown"
colong=245
eponym=Erwin Schrödinger

Schrödinger is a huge lunar impact crater of the form normally called a walled-plain. It is located near the south lunar pole on the far side of the Moon, and can only be viewed from orbit. The smaller Ganswindt crater is attached to the southwest rim of Schrödinger, and intrudes slightly into the inner wall. Further to the southwest is the Amundsen crater.

Schrödinger possesses a wide outer rim that has been slightly rounded due to subsequent impacts. But the rim remains well-defined, and traces of s can be seen along the inner surface. The "ejecta" on the exterior forms an irregular outer that extends for up to 100 kilometers.

Within the interior is a second ring approximately half the diameter of the outer rim. This forms a circular range of rugged mountains that surround the center, with the exception of a wide gap in the south. The remainder of the floor has been resurfaced by subsequent lava flows, producing a relatively flat surface particularly within the inner ring. The exception is an area of rough ground in the southeast part of the interior.

A complex of rilles has formed across the floor, forming multiple clefts particularly in the south. The floor has also been marked by subsequent impacts, leaving tiny craterlets scattered across the surface. There is no central peak at the mid-point of the interior.

There is a long, narrow valley leading directly away from the Schrödinger basin to the northwest, designated Vallis Schrödinger. This formation begins some distance from the outer rim of the crater, at the edge of the "ejecta" that surrounds the perimeter. It extends to the rim of the Moulton crater. Another similar valley designated Vallis Planck radiates to the north, beginning near the Grotrian crater at the periphery of the Schrödinger "ejecta", and extending past the Fechner 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 Schrödinger crater.

References