Reiner Gamma

Lat: 7.39°N, Long: 58.96°W, Diam: 73.44 km, Depth: 0 km, [/R%C3%BCkl%2028 Rükl: 28]

Frame 2215, made by Lunar Orbiter 2, shows Reiner Gamma and its northeastern extension toward the Marius hills. Looking north.
A larger (and somewhat darker) scan of Lunar Orbiter 4's frame 157-h1 (LO4-157-h1) shows a much more detailed view of Reiner Gamma's peculiar appearance.
The upper right corner of Lunar Orbiter 4's frame 162-h1 (LO4-162-h1) shows Reiner Gamma's southwestern extension, and also the small swirl east of Lohrmann A.
- Research Lunar Orbiter 2 and 4 photographs: Danny Caes

Maps

([/LAC%20zone LAC zone] 56C1) LAC map Geologic map

IAU page: Reiner Gamma
Reiner Gamma is the most famous lunar [/swirl swirl], and has an area of 10,000 km^2 and a strong magnetic anomaly (Hughes and others, 2006)
In the Topographic Lunar Maps prepared by the Army Map Service in 1963 Reiner Gamma was depicted as a shallow depression. It is presently thought to be purely an albedo feature with no vertical relief. - JimMosher JimMosher
The bright oval, edged with dark is about 35 km in length. Splotchy bright material extends 200 km to the north and about 235 km to the south. - tychocrater tychocrater Dec 26, 2009
The "official" diameter listed in the [/IAU%20Planetary%20Gazetteer IAU Planetary Gazetteer] is 70 km.
Reiner Gamma was selected as a Constellation Program [/RoI%20-%20Reiner%20Gamma Region of Interest] (follow that link for more info).
Curious elongated rugby-ball shaped craterlet north-northwest of Reiner Gamma (LAT: 9.00 / LON: -59.61). See http://bit.ly/2xYJxme

See [/Reiner Reiner]: "Gamma" is a Greek letter. In the notation of [/Blagg%20and%20M%C3%BCller Blagg and Müller] the name Reiner Gamma means a raised [/satellite%20feature satellite feature] of the crater [/Reiner Reiner].
According to [/Whitaker Whitaker] (pp. 65, 125 and 212), this formation (then thought to be a large crater) in the "[/Oceanus%20Procellarum Sea of Storms]" was originally named for Galileo by [/Riccioli Riccioli], who mistook it for a large crater. [/M%C3%A4dler Mädler], who according to Whitaker recognized it as an albedo feature but did not give such things names, moved Galileo to a nearby, but much smaller, crater (the present [/Galilaei Galilaei]) and used the name Reiner Gamma to designate a ridge in the region, unrelated to the the albedo pattern. Despite what Whitaker says, Chuck Wood notes that [/Named%20Lunar%20Formations Named Lunar Formations] cites Mädler as its authority for the name Reiner Gamma, and that the Gamma on Mädler's map is in exactly the correct position. - JimMosher JimMosher
Unlabeled in Elger's [/Elger%2C%201895 The Moon]. Called Reiner R (for ruin) in Goodacre's The Moon and The Moon of [/Wilkins%20and%20Moore Wilkins and Moore].
Called the Jew's Harp by Elger (see description at Galilaei).
Called Bullialdi by Van Langren (Langrenus).
Called Audus, mons by J.Hewelcke (Hevelius).

Recent Impact in Oceanus Procellarum (a tiny boulder-rich ray craterlet with flat central section, slightly east-northeast of Reiner Gamma).

[/Lunar%20100 L57]: Conspicuous swirl & magnetic anomaly.

[/Alphabetical%20Index Named Features] -- Prev: [/Reimarus Reimarus] -- Next: [/Reiner Reiner]

This page has been edited 1 times. The last modification was made by - tychocrater tychocrater on Jun 13, 2009 3:24 pm - afx3u3