Shoemaker
Contents
Shoemaker
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Lat: 88.1°S, Long: 44.9°E, Diam: 50.9 km, Depth: km, Rükl: 73 |
Earth-based radar view by Campbell et al.: In the LPOD image from which this has been cropped, the Earth-based radar data was re-mapped to a north-up aerial view. Shoemaker is the crater labeled Sh. The one labeled Fa is Faustini. Shackleton, the IAU-named feature closest to the Moon's South Pole, is in the lower left, with only its lower rim illuminated by the radar waves.
Images
LPOD Photo Gallery Lunar Orbiter Images Apollo Images
- Shoemaker is readily visible from Earth when the lighting and libration are favorable, although only the rim, and a bit of the far inner wall, are visible (most of the interior being in permanent shadow). It can be easily seen, for example, as the elliptical feature (shadowed on the left) near the left end of this south polar mosaic by Peter Oberč, taken when the subsolar point on the Moon was near 36.5°E/1.2°S (with a libration in latitude of -6.7°). The shadowed features to Shoemaker's left in that south-up image are Faustini (far rim, only, in sunlight), and the much larger Amundsen (both rims in sunlight).
Maps
(LAC zone 144D4) USGS Digital Atlas PDF
Description
Description: Wikipedia
Additional Information
- The existence of this crater was probably first clearly described by Ewen Whitaker, who labeled it "R4" (for "Ring 4") in his classic description of the Moon's south polar topography.
- A capsule carrying a small quantity of the ashes of Gene Shoemaker was carried aboard the Lunar Prospector satellite, which was deliberately crashed into this crater (then unnamed) on July 31, 1999 at 9:52 UT. Scientists hoped to be be able to see from Earth a plume of debris confirming the suspected deposits of ice on the crater's shadowed floor. Nothing was visible, however they are reasonably confident the spacecraft impacted somewhere in this crater. - Jim Mosher
Nomenclature
- Named for Eugene Merle Shoemaker (or Gene Shoemaker) (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997), an American astrogeologist, who was one of the founders of the field of planetary science. He is probably best known for co-discovering the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy.
- This name was added to the IAU nomenclature in 2000 (IAU Transactions XXIVB).
LPOD Articles
20 m Resolution! (source of above radar image)
Bibliography
By Eugene M. Shoemaker:
The Moon Close Up, National Geographic November 1964 (this article describes the mission of Ranger 7, with interesting photographs of the Mare Cognitum region near Mons Moro).
