Sikorsky (crater)

lunar crater data
latitude=66.1
N_or_S=S
longitude=103.2
E_or_W=E
diameter=98 km
depth="Unknown"
colong=260
eponym=Igor I. Sikorsky

Sikorsky is a lunar crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It is located behind the southeastern limb of the Moon, just out of sight from the Earth. It is located to the northwest of the huge Schrödinger walled-plain. To the northwest is the smaller Moulton crater.

In 1967 the Lunar Orbiter 4 photographed this region in high resolution, and a surprise discovery was made of a 310-km-long gouge cutting through the middle of the Sikorsky crater. This linear formation is radial to the Schrödinger walled-plain and has since been named the Vallis Schrödinger.

This is a heavily eroded crater formation with a rim that has been worn and rounded by a long history of lesser impacts. In addition to the wide valley mentioned above, there is a lesser cleft that cuts into the eastern rim from the south-southeast. There are also small craterlets along the rim to the east, northeast, and northwest.

Discounting the valley that bisects the floor, the interior surface is relatively level and featureless, with only a few tiny craterlets to mark the surface. At nearly the exact mid-point of the floor, and intruding into the western side of the Vallis Schrödinger, is the almost perfectly bowl-shaped 'Sikorsky Q' satellite crater.

The moon crater is named after Igor Sikorsky, a Russian-American aviation pioneer.

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 Sikorsky crater.

References