Swift (north of the larger Peirce, in the W part of Mare Crisium)

(formerly Peirce B)

Lat: 19.3°N, Long: 53.4°E, Diam: 10 km, Depth: 2.04 km, Rükl: 26

Swift can evidently be difficult to recognize at high sun, so this crater, like Linné, has been the center of debate regarding variability on the Moon. In his 1953 Guide to the Moon (pp. 102-103) Patrick Moore says the theory of obscuration by mists
- ... is supported by dozens of independent observations of mists in the area. These observations go back eighty years to the time of Birt, who often noted that Graham [proposed name for Swift], the crater south [this should read "north"] of Peirce, was totally invisible when it should have been obvious. This has also been found more recently for instance, Dr. Wilkins could see no trace of it on May 12 1927, though it had been normal on May 11 and had reappeared faintly by May 13. Three times in 1948 the writer saw the whole area "misty grey and devoid of detail", with the surrounding surface sharp and clear-cut...

Nomenclature

Named for Lewis Swift (1820-1913), an American astronomer.
This replacement name for a formerly lettered crater was introduced on LTO-44D4 (October 1974), where it is listed as "approved by the IAU".
The name was approved "as assigned" in IAU Transactions XVIB (1976).
Before it had its present name, Wilkins and Moore proposed naming this crater Graham after a 19th century English astronomer. The I.A.U. did not accept that name.

In: Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows, and related electromagnetic phenomena (1984) :

Phenomenon Yet Unexplained (Popular Astronomy, 1898) (Color Phenomena and the Earth's Shadow on the Sky)

In: Mysterious Universe; a handbook of astronomical anomalies (1979) :

This page has been edited 1 times. The last modification was made by - tychocrater tychocrater on Jun 13, 2009 3:24 pm - afx3u2