Arago Domes
Contents
Arago Domes
(discontinued IAU names)
Arago Alpha: Lat: 7.6°N, Long: 21.6°E, Diam: 24 km, Height: 0.33 km, Rükl: 35 |
Arago Beta: Lat: 6.1°N, Long: 20.0°E, Diam: 23 km, Height: 0.27 km, Rükl: 35 |
Images
LPOD|Photo Gallery images Lunar Orbiter Images
- Arago Beta was very vaguely captured on Lunar Orbiter IV's photograph LOIV-85-H1. See the upper left corner of the Hi-Res scan of that photograph.- DannyCaes May 2, 2010
Topo Profiles
From LOLA Altimetry - see LPOD for details
Arago Alpha - W-E profile
Arago Beta- W-E profile
Arago Beta - S-N profile
Maps
(LAC zone 60C1) LAC map Geologic map LM map AIC map -- alpha AIC map -- beta
Description
Description: Elger
(IAU Directions) There are two curious circular protuberances on the Mare W. of Arago, which are well seen when the E. longitude of the morning terminator is about 19 deg., and a long cleft, passing about midway between them, and extending from the foot of the W. wall to a small crater on the edge of the Mare near Sosigenes.
Description: Wikipedia
Additional Information
- The positions of the domes listed in the title lines are based on LTVT measurements of an Earth-based photo by Paolo Lazzarotti registered to the 1994 ULCN. The height estimates are from the most recent GLR Lunar Dome Catalog (see below). The shadow cast by Arago Alpha in Consolidated Lunar Atlas plate D5 gives a height of ~300 m, in reasonable agreement with the GLR value. - JimMosher
- In his 1964 Dome Catalog, Brungart listed Arago Alpha as "Arago 2", assigning it an "order of magnitude" height of 700 m, and listed Arago Beta as "Arago 1", assigning it a height of 800 m
- The 2005 GLR Lunar Dome Catalog agrees with the title line on the diameters, but gives the heights of Arago Alpha and Beta (which, like Brungart, it lists as Arago 2 and 1) as 150 m and 800 m, respectively. This appears to be an underestimate for Alpha and a considerable overestimate for Beta. The origin of the 150 m height for Arago Alpha is unclear.
- A 2005 article by Lena et al. (see Bibliography, below), appearing simultaneously with the announcement of the 2005 GLR Lunar Dome Catalog, gives height estimates based on shape-from-shading/photoinclinometry of 330+/-30 m and 270+/-30 m.
- These numbers are repeated in the 2006 Icarus article by the same group (see below), where the features are assigned the new names "A2" (Arago Alpha) and "A3" (Arago Beta).
- The current GLR Consolidated Lunar Dome Catalogue reproduces the information from the Icarus article, giving the heights as 330 m (A2 = Arago Alpha) and 270 m (A3 = Arago Beta).
- North-northwest of the large dome Arago Alpha is (or should be) the impact location of Ranger 6, which was an unsuccessful attempt to make close-up photographs of the moon while the probe descended toward the lunar surface.
The exact coordinates of Ranger 6's impact location are: 9°24' North/ 21°30' East.
Note that chart 35 of Antonin Rukl's Atlas of the Moon doesn't show the location of Ranger 6.
Additional research Danny Caes
Nomenclature
- Named for nearby crater. (Arago)
- Alpha and Beta are Greek-letter designations for lunar peaks, no longer recognized by the IAU
LPOD Articles
Something for everyone
Edgy
May Day Dome
Domical Profiles
Lunar 100
L32: Volcanic domes.
Bibliography
- Hill, Harold. A Portfolio of Lunar Drawings, pages 10, 11.
- Raffaello Lena, Christian Wöhler, Zac Pujic, Jim Phillips, Paolo Lazzarotti and Maria Teresa Bregante (GLR group). (2005) An Unlisted Dome Near Crater Arago. The Lunar Observer. August 2005 issue (PDF).
- Wöhler, Christian; Lena, Raffaello; Lazzarotti, Paolo; Phillips, Jim; Wirths, Michael; Pujic, Zac; Geologic Lunar Research (GLR) Group. (2006) A combined spectrophotometric and morphometric study of the lunar mare dome fields near Cauchy, Arago, Hortensius and Milichius. Icarus, Volume 183, Issue 2, p. 237-264. (free reprint)