| Crater characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 45.4° S, 63.4° E |
| Diameter | 76 km |
| Depth | 2.9 km |
| Colongitude | 298° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Georg F. Von Vega |
Vega is an eroded lunar crater that is located in the southeastern part of the Moon. It lies on the near side and so can be viewed from the Earth. Less than a crater diameter to the east-southeast is the slightly smaller Peirescius crater. About one and a half crater diameters to the west is the long Vallis Rheita. This crater has been worn and eroded by a history of impacts. 'Vega B' overlays the southern part of the southern floor and inner wall. The east-northeastern section of the rim is overlaid by a merged pair of small craters. A cluster of small craters lies along the northwestern rim. The remainder of the outer rim is round-shouldered and marked by many tiny impacts. The southern part interior floor is partly overlaid by the outer rampart of 'Vega B'. The remainder of the floor is relatively featureless except for a few tiny craters. This feature is named after the Slovenian mathematician Jurij Vega (Georg Freiherr von Vega in German).
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 Vega crater.
| Vega | Latitude | Longitude | Diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 47.2° S | 65.3° E | 12 km |
| B | 46.2° S | 63.5° E | 30 km |
| C | 45.2° S | 64.8° E | 21 km |
| D | 44.7° S | 64.3° E | 25 km |
| G | 44.4° S | 62.4° E | 11 km |
| H | 44.5° S | 60.1° E | 6 km |
| J | 45.6° S | 59.9° E | 19 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. 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.
