Ibn Firnas (crater)

Ibn Firnas (crater)

Coordinates	6°48′N 122°18′E / 6.8°N 122.3°E / 6.8; 122.3Coordinates: 6°48′N 122°18′E / 6.8°N 122.3°E / 6.8; 122.3
Diameter	89 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	239° at sunrise
Eponym	Abbas Ibn Firnas

Ibn Firnas is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon, in honour of Abbas Ibn Firnas ( a polymath from Andalucia, Spain), who is regarded as the first man to have attempted flying with evidence of some success. Attached to the exterior of its southwestern rim is the prominent crater King. Only a few kilometers to the north, separated by a rugged stretch of terrain, is the larger crater Ostwald.

This is a worn and eroded crater with small impacts along the northern and eastern rims. The satellite crater Ibn Firnas L lies along the inner wall to the southeast and covers part of the interior floor. Along the northern side, the small satellite crater Ibn Firnas Y cuts through the rim and overlays part of the inner wall. The interior floor is irregular along the northern and southwest sections where their shape has been modified by the large nearby craters mentioned above. Several small craterlets lie across the remainder of the interior floor.

Nearby craters

Several small craters located in the rugged terrain at the northern edge of this crater have been assigned names by the IAU. These are listed in the table below.

Crater	Coordinates	Diameter	Name source
Carol	8°30′N 122°18′E / 8.5°N 122.3°E / 8.5; 122.3	8 km	Latin feminine name
Ewen	7°42′N 121°24′E / 7.7°N 121.4°E / 7.7; 121.4	3 km	Gaelic masculine name
Kasper	8°18′N 122°06′E / 8.3°N 122.1°E / 8.3; 122.1	12 km	Polish masculine name
Melissa	8°06′N 121°48′E / 8.1°N 121.8°E / 8.1; 121.8	18 km	Greek feminine name
Romeo	7°30′N 122°36′E / 7.5°N 122.6°E / 7.5; 122.6	8 km	Italian masculine name
Shahinaz	7°30′N 122°24′E / 7.5°N 122.4°E / 7.5; 122.4	15 km	Turkish feminine name

The crater Melissa lies across the north-northwestern outer rim of Ibn Firnas. It is a roughly bowl-shaped, although it has a very uneven appearance due to the irregular terrain in which it was formed. Melissa was previously designated Ibn Firnas Y before it was assigned a name by the IAU.

The locations of these craters are shown on the following L&PI topographic maps:

• LTO-65B4 Recht
• LTO-65C1 King

Satellite 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 Ibn Firnas.

Ibn Firnas	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
E	7.5° N	125.5° E	42 km
L	5.9° N	123.0° E	21 km

References

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A., (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097. 
• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2. 
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 0-936389-27-3. 
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. http://host.planet4589.org/astro/lunar/. Retrieved 2007-10-24. 
• Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode 1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763.  edit
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 0-304-35469-4. 
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33500-0. 
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-913135-17-8. 
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revision ed.). Dover. ISBN 0-486-20917-2. 
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62248-4. 
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 1-85233-193-3.