Lunar Valleys

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List of Lunar Valleys

(italics farside)

IAU-named Valleys


Vallis Alpes
Vallis Baade
Vallis Bohr
Vallis Bouvard
Vallis Capella
Vallis Christel
Vallis Inghirami
Vallis Krishna
Vallis Palitzsch
Vallis Planck
Vallis Rheita
Vallis Schrödinger
Vallis Schröteri
Vallis Snellius

and

Taurus-Littrow Valley (officially a Landing site name)


Other valleys on both the moon's near and far sides

An investigation of Clementine orbital photographs reveals a lot more lunar valleys than those mentioned in the IAU-list. Here's an appendix-list of unofficially named lunar valleys, of which most of them are located at LAC 9, LAC 20, and LAC 21 (the region "behind" the moon's north-northwestern limb).
Note: the orbital photographs made by the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) reveal much, MUCH more unnamed valley and "groove"-like formations!
Research and unofficial nomenclature: Danny Caes.

- Vallis Abbe (the shallow valley east of Abbe)(LAC 132).
- Vallis Brianchon A (the very narrow valley running through Brianchon A at the northern part of Brianchon's rim)(LAC 9).
- Vallis Brisbane Z (the pronounced "groove" immediately south of Brisbane Z, noticeable on Lunar Orbiter 4's photograph LOIV-178-h3 (North is toward the bottom of photograph).
- Vallis Chapman D (the valley at the southern rim of Chapman D)(LAC 21).
- Vallis Cleostratus (the valley west-southwest of Cleostratus)(LAC 10).
- Vallis Cori (the valley north-northwest of Cori)(LAC 133).
- Vallis Ellerman (the valley south-southwest of Ellerman)(LAC 107).
- Vallis Eotvos (the valley northwest of Eotvos)(LAC 118).
- Vallis Fizeau (the short valley east of Fizeau)(LAC 134).
- Vallis Froelich (the valley at the northeastern part of Froelich's rim, which could be the western continuation of Vallis Sylvester)(LAC 1 and LAC 9).
- Vallis Gyldén (the pronounced valley at the western rim of Gyldén, which is part of the Imbrium radial sculpture).
Note that most (or every one) of the valley- or "groove"-like depressions in the neighbourhood of the Ptolemaeus-Alphonsus-Arzachel-Albategnius group are in fact related to the Imbrium sculpture or Imbrium radial sculpture. To give names to all these radial "grooves" would be a most interesting project!
- Vallis Heyrovsky (or: Vallis Rydberg) (the valley slightly west of Heyrovsky, running south toward the northern rim of Rydberg)(LAC 123).
- Vallis Jarvis (the valley east of Jarvis)(LAC 121).
- Vallis J. Herschel (the shallow valley at 61°30' North/ 47° West, near the southwestern part of J. Herschel's rim)(LAC 11).
- Vallis Lampland K / Lampland M (the valley south of both Lampland K and M). http://bit.ly/2DP0uVI
- Vallis Mendel-Lippmann (the valley (or catena?) between the western rims of Mendel and Lippmann)(LAC 134).
- Vallis Milankovic (the valley west-northwest of Milankovic)(LAC 7).
- Vallis Moulton (the short shallow valley west of Moulton, not to be confused with the northern end of Vallis Schrodinger near Moulton's southeastern rim!)(LAC 129).
- Vallis Niepce (the system of valleys south of Niepce and Niepce F)(LAC 9).
- Vallis Noether E (the valley at the northern rim of Noether E)(LAC 9).
- Vallis Noether T (the valley which runs through the southern half of Noether T, northeast of Vallis Poczobutt)(LAC 9).
- Vallis Parrot (the valley-like "groove" at the south-southeastern part of Parrot, which is part of the Imbrium radial sculpture).
- Vallis Parrot C (the short valley between Parrot C and La Caille GA, which is part of the Imbrium radial sculpture).
- Vallis Pascal (the valley north of Pascal)(LAC 2).
- Vallis Poczobutt (the valley at the southern rim of Poczobutt)(LAC 21).
- Vallis Popov (the valley west-northwest of Popov)(LAC 46), see also LPOD More Discoveries from the Vault
- Vallis Rynin (the pronounced valley at the east-southeastern part of Rynin)(LAC 36).
- Vallis Schrodinger-De Forest (the pronounced valley between Schrodinger and De Forest)(LAC 141).
- Vallis Schwabe (the valley which runs from Schwabe to the triplet Strabo L,B,N)(LAC 4), see also LPOD Small Northern Gash.
- Vallis Sylvester (the valley between Brianchon and Sylvester)(LAC 9).
- Vallis Tiling (the valley north-northeast of Tiling)(LAC 134).
- Vallis Ukert (the valley southwest of Ukert, which is part of the Imbrium radial sculpture).
- Vallis van't Hoff (the valley east-northeast of van't Hoff)(LAC 9 and LAC 20).
- Vallis Vertregt P (the valley south-southeast of Vertregt P).
- Vallis Wexler (the broad shallow valley west-northwest of Wexler)(LAC 139).
- Vallis Zach-Tannerus (or Vallis Tannerus-Zach) (some sort of valley-like or chain-like "groove" north of Zach, running all the way eastward to the south of Tannerus and Asclepi)(LAC 126 and LAC 127). This chain-like formation is much more distinct on the LRO's ACT-REACT Quick Map.
- Vallis Zeeman (the valley at the western part of the rim of Zeeman)(LAC 142).

For an overview of the above mentioned region at LAC 9, LAC 20, and LAC 21, see LPOD From the Earth to the Moon (May 31, 2006), and also Little Known Polar Valleys (May 9, 2009).

More unofficially named lunar valleys and valley-like depressions

- Eden Valley (a somewhat "valley"-shaped depression near the Apollo 16 landing site).
- Lost Valley (a "valley" south of Rimae Hypatia: see Phil Stooke's LPOD US-1 and Other Signposts).
- Miyamori Valley (the so-called "valley" which runs from Riccioli to Lohrmann, see also the LPODs Not a Valley and Miyamori Two).
- North Valley (or Vallis North or Vermiform Valley) discussed in Akkana Peck's Hitchhiker's Guide (south of Mare Crisium).
- Reichenbach Valley (possibly the oblong formation Rheita E to the south-southeast of Reichenbach, called Reichenbach Valley on page 41 of Patrick Moore's The Guinness Book of Astronomy, Facts and Feats, 1983).
- Smokey Valley (a "valley" in the Montes Secchi, see also Phil Stooke's LPOD US-1 and Other Signposts).
- Vallis Alpha Reed (a valley near or at Mare Ingenii, mentioned in David Woods' and Frank O'Brien's Apollo 15 Flight Journal, at 81:15:41 GET in the mission).

Gulch (on Phil Stooke's LPOD US-1 and Other Signposts)
- Chain Gulch (small elongated cluster of depressions immediately northeast of craterlet Collins).
- Dry Gulch (north of Secchi K).
- Furnace Gulch (south of Taruntius and Taruntius B).

LPOD

Radiating Linears (the Imbrium Radial Sculpture and its many valleys).