Orontius
Contents
Orontius
|
Lat: 40.6°S, Long: 4.6°W, Diam: 105 km, Depth: 3.37 km, Rükl: 65, pre-Nectarian |
Section of Lunar Orbiter 4's frame LOIV-112-h2
The incomplete crater Orontius at centre of frame, with the crescent shaped Huggins interrupting the southeastern part of Orontius's rim. The western half of Nasireddin is seen near the frame's lower right corner. The pronounced crater near the frame's upper left corner is Sasserides A, once known as Barker by H.P.Wilkins. Rightward of the frame's lower left corner is the northern half of Saussure. - DannyCaes Apr 6, 2016
Images
LPOD Photo Gallery Lunar Orbiter Images
Maps
(LAC zone 112D2) USGS Digital Atlas PDF
LAC map Geologic map
Description
Description: Elger
(IAU Directions) ORONTIUS.--Huggins has encroached on the E. side of this irregular ring- plain and overlaps it. It is of considerable size. The floor includes much detail and a prominent crater.
Description: Wikipedia
Additional Information
Depth data from Kurt Fisher database
- Westfall, 2000: 3.37 km
- Cherrington, 1969: 2.8 km
Orontius D, a bowl-shaped crater northwest of Orontius itself, shows up as a pretty looking "white ring" during Full Moon (northeast of the well-known raycrater Tycho).- DannyCaes Jun 10, 2012
Nomenclature
Oronce Finé (Orontius Finaeus) (December 20, 1494-August 8, 1555) was a French mathematician and cartographer. Finé wrote on astronomical instruments and astronomy. On how to determine the longitude of places, he suggested that eclipses of the moon could be used to determine it, and described an instrument he called a méthéoroscope, an astrolabe modified by adding a compass.
A curiosity
What is the purpose of the (not outlined) white "B" between Orontius and Saussure on page 225 of the revised and updated edition of the CLEMENTINE ATLAS OF THE MOON ? - DannyCaes Apr 6, 2016
It's nothing unusual, according to the IAU there is indeed a crater called Saussure B at that location. It's just the absence of the thin black outline around the white "B".
LPOD Articles
LROC Articles
Young Highlands Crater (a very tiny high-albedo craterlet on the floor of Orontius).
Bibliography
