| Crater characteristics | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Bessel crater from Apollo 15. NASA photo. | |
| Coordinates | 21.8° N, 17.9° E |
| Diameter | 16 km |
| Depth | 1.7 km |
| Colongitude | 342° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Friedrich W. Bessel |
Bessel is a small lunar crater that is located in the southern half of the Mare Serenitatis. Despite its size, this is the largest crater to lie entirely within the mare. It lies to the north-northeast of Menelaus crater. 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 terrace structures of larger craters. A large ray, most likely from Tycho crater, crosses the mare from north to south, passing by Bessel crater along the western side. It was named after Bessel the Cow because of it's distinctive shape.
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 Bessel crater.
| Bessel | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| D | 27.3° N | 19.9° E | 5 km |
| F | 21.2° N | 13.8° E | 1 km |
| G | 21.1° N | 14.7° E | 1 km |
| H | 25.7° N | 20.0° E | 4 km |
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.
- Bessel A — See Sarabhai crater.
- Bessel E — See Bobillier crater.
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. Retrieved on 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. Retrieved on 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: 136.
- 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.
- 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, 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 1852331933.
