Mary
Contents
Mary - and nearby unnamed elongated depression SW of it
| Lat: 18.9°N, Long: 27.4°E, Diam: 1 km, Depth: km, Rükl: 24 |
AS17-M-0597 This small area northeast of Dawes, on the border between Mare Serenitatis and Mare Tranquillitatis, is densely populated with minor feature names because it was plotted on two of NASA's high-resolution Topophotomaps. The upper group of Robert, Mary and Isis appears on 42C3/S1 and the lower group of Osiris, Catena Brigitte, Rima Marcello, Rima Reiko and Jerik is on 42C3/S2.
Additional note:
The large elongated depression southwest of Mary is not named, although it could be observed through all sorts of not-so-small and quite large amateur telescopes.
This depression is (however) a good roadsign to get to the location of the Osiris group of suspected volcanic cones.
Images
LPOD Photo Gallery Lunar Orbiter Images Apollo Images
It's quite a challenge to detect craterlet Mary on orbital panoramic ITEK-camera frames made during Apollo 15 and Apollo 17.
Mary seems to be a fresh craterlet with small bright ejectablanket around it. Because its location is very near (to the east of) the northern part of the officially unnamed oblong depression depicted in the Fairchild-camera photograph above, it is not that difficult to detect it on A15's and A17's ITEK frames.
Apollo 15's frames AS15-P-9562 and 9567 show Mary under high sun (Mary is the bright craterlet "below" the "right" part of the oblong depression, north is to the right).
Another such frame is Apollo 17's AS17-P-2898.
Low sun ITEK-frames of Mary are AS17-P-2317 and 2322.
Research Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 photography: Danny Caes
Maps
(LAC zone 42C3) LAC map Geologic map LM map LTO map Topophotomap
Description
Description: Wikipedia
Additional Information
Nomenclature
English form of Hebrew female name.
- According to NASA RP-1097, "Mary" is a Minor Feature whose name was originally intended only for use in connection with Topophotomap 42C3/S1(on which it is plotted). It is completely unclear why "Mary" was singled out for naming and the larger craters touching it on the south were ignored.
- Of the (about) 16.000 named asteroids in orbit around the sun, asteroid number 2779 seems to be known as Mary. See: 2779 Mary.- DannyCaes Mar 23, 2013
- Why is there no official name for the elongated depression southwest of Mary? It could be observed from earth, through all sorts of common telescopes.
LPOD Articles
Bibliography
APOLLO OVER THE MOON; A VIEW FROM ORBIT, Chapter 4: The Maria (Part 3), Figure 90.
