Lunar 100

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Lunar 100

Description

The Lunar 100 list is an attempt to provide Moon lovers with something akin to what deep-sky observers enjoy with the Messier catalog: a selection of telescopic sights to ignite interest and enhance understanding. Presented here is a selection of the Moon's 100 most interesting regions, craters, basins, mountains, rilles, and domes. I challenge observers to find and observe them all and, more important, to consider what each feature tells us about lunar and Earth history.

(Note: Chuck Wood's Lunar 100 originated in his column in the popular astronomy magazine Sky and Telescope, and the primary reference describing it remains the 2004 S&T article cited at the end. Individual features on the list were described at length in subsequent columns.)


Lunar 100 List


L
Feature Name
Significance
Lat. (°)
Long. (°)
Diam. (km)
Rükl Chart
1

Moon

Large satellite


"3,476"

2

Earthshine

Twice reflected sunlight




3

Mare/highland dichotomy

Two materials with distinct compositions




4

Apennines

Imbrium basin rim
18.9N
3.7W
70

22

5

Copernicus

Archetypal large complex crater
9.7N
20.1W
93

31

6

Tycho

Large rayed crater with impact melts
43.4S
11.1W
85

64

7

Altai Scarp

Nectaris basin rim
24.3S
22.6E
425

57

8

Theophilus, Cyrillus, Catharina

Crater sequence illustrating stages of degradation
13.2S
24.0E

46, 57

9

Clavius

Lacks basin features in spite of its size
58.8S
14.1W
225

72

10

Mare Crisium

Mare contained in large circular basin
18.0N
59.0E
540

26, 27, 37, 38

11

Aristarchus

Very bright crater with dark bands on its walls
23.7N
47.4W
40

18

12

Proclus

Oblique-impact rays
16.1N
46.8E
28

26

13

Gassendi

Floor-fractured crater
17.6S
40.1W
101

52

14

Sinus Iridum

Very large crater with missing rim
45.0N
32.0W
260

10

15

Straight Wall

Best example of a lunar fault
21.8S
7.8W
110

54

16

Petavius

Crater with domed & fractured floor
25.1S
60.4E
177

59

17

Schröter's Valley

Giant sinuous rille
26.2N
50.8W
168
18
18

Mare Serenitatis dark edges

Distinct mare areas with different compositions
17.8N
23.0E
N/A
24
19

Alpine Valley

Lunar graben
49.0N
3.0E
165
4
20

Posidonius

Floor-fractured crater
31.8N
29.9E
95
14
21

Fracastorius

Crater with subsided & fractured floor
21.5S
33.2E
124
58
22

Aristarchus Plateau

Mysterious uplifted region mantled with pyroclastics
26.0N
51.0W
150
18
23

Pico

Isolated Imbrium basin-ring fragment
45.7N
8.9W
25
11
24

Hyginus Rille

Rille containing rimless collapse pits
7.4N
7.8E
220
34
25

Messier & Messier A

Oblique ricochet-impact pair
1.9S
47.6E
11
48
26

Mare Frigoris

Arcuate mare of uncertain origin
56.0N
1.4E
1600
2–6
27

Archimedes

Large crater lacking central peak
29.7N
4.0W
83
"12, 22"
28

Hipparchus

First drawing of a single crater
5.5S
4.8E
150
"44, 45"
29

Aridaeus Rille

"Long, linear graben"
6.4N
14.0E
250
34
30

Schiller

Possible oblique impact
51.9S
39.0W
180
71
31

Taruntius

Young floor-fractured crater
5.6N
46.5E
56
37
32

Arago Alpha & Beta

Volcanic domes
6.2N
21.4E
26
35
33

Serpentine Ridge

Basin inner-ring segment
27.3N
25.3E
155
24
34

Lacus Mortis

Strange crater with rille & ridge
45.0N
27.2E
152
14
35

Triesnecker Rilles

Rille family
4.3N
4.6E
215
33
36

Grimaldi basin

A small two-ring basin
5.5S
68.3W
440
39
37

Bailly

Barely discernible basin
66.5S
69.1W
303
71
38

Sabine & Ritter

Possible twin impacts
1.7N
19.7E
30
35
39

Schickard

Crater floor with Orientale basin ejecta stripe
44.3S
55.3W
227
62
40

Janssen Rille

Rare example of a highland rille
45.4S
39.3E
190
"67, 68"
41

Bessel ray

Ray of uncertain origin near Bessel
21.8N
17.9E
N/A
24
42

Marius Hills

Complex of volcanic domes & hills
12.5N
54.0W
125
"28, 29"
43

Wargentin

A crater filled to the rim with lava or ejecta
49.6S
60.2W
84
70
44

Mersenius

Domed floor cut by secondary craters
21.5S
49.2W
84
51
45

Maurolycus

Region of saturation cratering
42.0S
14.0E
114
66
46

Regiomontanus central peak

Possible volcanic peak
28.0S
0.6W
124
55
47

Alphonsus dark spots

Dark-halo eruptions on crater floor
13.7S
3.2W
119
44
48

Cauchy region

"Fault, rilles, & domes"
10.5N
38.0E
130
36
49

Gruithuisen Delta & Gamma

Volcanic domes formed with viscous lavas
36.3N
40.0W
20
9
50

Cayley Plains

"Light, smooth plains of uncertain origin"
4.0N
15.1E
14
34
51

Davy crater chain

Result of comet-fragment impacts
11.1S
6.6W
50
43
52

Crüger

Possible volcanic caldera
16.7S
66.8W
45
50
53

Lamont

Possible buried basin
4.4N
23.7E
106
35
54

Hippalus Rilles

Rilles concentric to Humorum basin
24.5S
29.0W
240
"52, 53"
55

Baco

Unusually smooth crater floor & surrounding plains
51.0S
19.1E
69
74
56

Australe basin

A partially flooded ancient basin
49.8S
84.5E
880
76
57

Reiner Gamma

Conspicuous swirl & magnetic anomaly
7.7N
59.2W
70
28
58

Rheita Valley

Basin secondary-crater chain
42.5S
51.5E
445
68
59

Schiller-Zucchius basin

Badly degraded overlooked basin
56.0S
45.0W
335
"70, 71"
60

Kies Pi

Volcanic dome
26.9S
24.2W
45
53
61

Mösting A

Simple crater close to center of lunar near side
3.2S
5.2W
13
43
62

Rümker

Large volcanic dome
40.8N
58.1W
70
8
63
Imbrium sculpture

Basin ejecta near & overlying Boscovich & Julius Caesar

11.0N
12.0E

34
64

Descartes

Apollo 16 landing site; putative region of highland volcanism
11.7S
15.7E
48
45
65

Hortensius domes

Dome field north of Hortensius
7.6N
27.9W
10
30
66

Hadley Rille

Lava channel near Apollo 15 landing site
25.0N
3.0E

22
67

Fra Mauro formation

Apollo 14 landing site on Imbrium ejecta
3.6S
17.5W

42
68
Flamsteed P
Proposed young volcanic crater & Surveyor 1 landing site
3.0S
44.0W
112
40
69

Copernicus secondary craters

Rays & craterlets near Pytheas
19.6N
19.1W
4
20
70

Humboldtianum basin

Multi-ring impact basin
57.0N
80.0E
650
7
71

Sulpicius Gallus dark mantle

Ash eruptions northwest of crater
19.6N
11.6E
12
23
72

Atlas dark-halo craters

Explosive volcanic pits on the floor of Atlas
46.7N
44.4E
87
15
73

Smythii basin

Difficult-to-observe basin scarp & mare
2.0S
87.0E
740
"38, 49"
74
Copernicus H
Dark-halo impact crater
6.9N
18.3W
5
31
75
Ptolemaeus B
Saucer like depression on the floor of Ptolemaeus
8.0S
0.8W
16
44
76

W. Bond

Large crater degraded by Imbrium ejecta
65.3N
3.7E
158
4
77

Sirsalis Rille

Procellarum basin radial rilles
15.7S
61.7W
425
"39, 50"
78
Lambert R
"A buried ""ghost"" crater"
23.8N
20.6W
54
20
79

Sinus Aestuum

Eastern dark-mantle volcanic deposit
12.0N
3.5W
90
33
80

Orientale basin

Youngest large impact basin
19.0S
95.0W
930
50
81
Hesiodus A
Concentric crater
30.1S
17.0W
15
54
82

Linné

Small crater once thought to have disappeared
27.7N
11.8E
2.4
23
83

Plato craterlets

Crater pits at limits of detection
51.6N
9.4W
101
"3, 4"
84

Pitatus

Crater with concentric rilles
29.8S
13.5W
97
54
85

Langrenus rays

Aged ray system
8.9S
60.9E
132
49
86

Prinz Rilles

Rille system near the crater Prinz
27.0N
43.0W
46
19
87

Humboldt

Crater with central peaks & dark spots
27.0S
80.9E
207
60
88

Peary

Difficult-to-observe polar crater
88.6N
33.0E
74
"4, II"
89

Valentine Dome

Volcanic dome
30.5N
10.1E
30
13
90

"Armstrong, Aldrin & Collins"

Small craters near the Apollo 11 landing site
1.3N
23.7E
3
35
91

De Gasparis Rilles

Area with many rilles
25.9S
50.7W
30
51
92

Gylden Valley

Part of the Imbrium radial sculpture
5.1S
0.7E
47
44
93

Dionysius rays

Unusual & rare dark rays
2.8N
17.3E
18
35
94

Drygalski

Large south-pole region crater
79.3S
84.9W
162
"72, VI"
95

Procellarum basin

The Moon's biggest basin?
23.0N
15.0W
3200

96

Leibnitz Mountains

Rim of South Pole-Aitken basin
85.0S
30.0E

"73, V"
97

Inghirami Valley

Orientale basin ejecta
44.0S
73.0W
140
61
98

Imbrium lava flows

Mare lava-flow boundaries
32.8N
22.0W

10
99

Ina

D-shaped young volcanic caldera
18.6N
5.3E
3
22
100

Mare Marginis swirls

Possible magnetic field deposits
18.5N
88.0E

"27, III"


Additional Information

The Lunar 101-200 (a list of 100 lunar surface formations of which each one is worthwile to observe through powerful amateur-telescopes) is not yet online, but could be an important guide for those who want to know much more about really bizarre shaped craterlets and hillocks on the moon's near side. The first one in the Lunar 101-200 list (Number 101) could be the partially buried craterlet at the southeastern slope of the hill Euler Gamma. See: Partially Buried Craters. - DannyCaes Dec 6, 2008
Number 102? Might be the triplet at Encke M (east of Encke).
Number 103? Might be the unnamed twin-craterlets west of NASA's Hill 305 (aka Fresnel Ridge near Rima Hadley).
Number 104? (??).
To be continued... (perhaps on a new page).

Other Observing Programs


LPOD Articles

LPOD LUNAR 100
Lunar 100

Lunar 100 Links

Kerry Astronomy Club, Ireland
Observing the Lunar 100, East Valley Astronomy Club, AZ
Lunar 100 Observing Club, Raleigh Astronomy Club, NC
George Tarsoudis, Greece

Bibliography

Chuck Wood (2004) The Lunar 100 -- original Sky and Telescope article (on-line)
Chuck Wood (2004) Lunar 100 Card