The week of October 7-13 takes us from Day 5 to Day 11. This week we will highlight the moon craters Aristoteles and Eudoxus, viewable on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, located in the NE quadrant of the Field Map at E11.
Aristoteles:† [NE/D11; L=17°E] Close to the terminator this evening there is an eye-catching pair of craters, Aristoteles and Eudoxus. Aristoteles is a complex crater with terraces, but in place of a central mountain it has a couple of small off-center peaks that are poking through the lava plain on its floor. The substantial ejecta blanket to the north of Aristoteles clearly shows radial structure, and if you catch it in the early morning sunrise it will look like many points of light peeking through the shadows. Aristoteles adjoins the moon crater Mitchell to its immediate east. The pair violates the standard rule that smaller, younger craters are superimposed on top of larger, older craters. Can you tell that the younger (and larger) Aristoteles is intruding onto Mitchell (which is older and smaller)?
Eudoxus:† [NE/E11; L=16°E] Both Eudoxus and Aristoteles to its north are wonderfully complex craters with terraced walls. Look closely at the pair. It’s subtle, but can you see any features that would suggest which is older? 18 Just to the northeast of Eudoxus are three simple craters. Can you tell if their floors are bowl-shaped or flat?
OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE
On October 7, 1959, the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 returns the first photos of the Moon’s far side.
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
- Imposing Trio of Moon Craters - March 17, 2025
- Moon Craters Cleomedes and Proclus - March 10, 2025
- Posidonius and le Monnier – Two Moon Craters on Mare Serenitatis - March 3, 2025