The week of September 1-7 takes us from Day 10 to Day 16. This week we will highlight the moon crater Cleomedes, visible on Sunday night.
Cleomedes: [NE/G15; L=56°E] Cleomedes is the first significant moon crater just north of Mare Crisium. It is a splendid moon crater, 80 miles in diameter, with terraced walls, rilles, and a small central mountain. There are also four craterlets and a Y-shaped rille on the northern half of the floor just east of the central mountain peak. Notice that the floor is unusually smooth. Because its southern rim touches one of the multi-rings encircling the Crisium basin, it is believed that lava rose up through Crisium fractures and smoothly covered the floor of Cleomedes. Under a low-angle Sun, you might be able to detect that the rille cuts through a small dome on the northern section of the floor.
OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE
On September 3rd, 1976, Viking 2 lands on Mars.
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It is highly recommended that you get a copy of Sky and Telescope’s Field Map of the Moon, the very finest Moon map available for use at the telescope. It is available for $10.95 at www.skyandtelescope.com and on Amazon. All features mentioned in this blog will be keyed to the grid on the Field Map and will look like this: Plato: [NW/D9]
Credits:
Courtesy of Gray Photography of Corpus Christi, Texas
Lunar photos: NASA / USGS / BMDO / LROC / ASU / DLR / LOLA / Moon Globe. Used by permission
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- Moon Crater Plato - January 26, 2026