Sinus Iridum

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Sinus Iridum

Lat: 44.1°N, Long: 31.5°W, Diam: 259 km, Depth: , Rükl: 10, Lower Imbrian

sinus-iridum-topo.jpg

external image Sinus%20Iridium.jpg

Left: Topographic WAC view from LROC.
Right: Eric Roel



Images

LPOD Photo Gallery Lunar Orbiter Images Apollo Images

  • Sinus Iridum is also seen on an extraordinary painting which was made by Chesley Bonestell, for the magazine Collier's (see: the fourth painting on page Collier's 2 in Fabio Femino's Fantascienza website). Research: Danny Caes
  • A remarkable color photograph of the Waning Crescent Moon, made by Dominique Dierick shows the opposite phenomenon of Patrick Moore's Jeweled Handle Effect (see Eric Roel's photo above). The shadowed Montes Jura and the partially illuminated Sinus Iridum (sunset light, as seen in Dominique's photo) was also depicted by Harold Hill in his subtle drawing on page 88 of the book A Portfolio of Lunar Drawings. Research: Danny Caes
  • Sinus Iridum sunrise sequence


Maps

(LAC zone 24A2) LAC map Geologic map

Description


Description: Wikipedia

Sinus Iridum

Additional Information

  • IAU page: Sinus Iridum
  • Depth data from Kurt Fisher database
    Cherrington, 1969: -0.4 km
  • Age estimate of 3.84 to 3.7 billion years based on crater counts (Wagner et al, 2002, Stratigraphic sequence and ages of volcanic units in the Gruithuisen region of the Moon. J. Geophys. Res. 107, E11, 5104 ).
  • IAU diameter of 235 km incorrect; 259 km comes from System of Lunar Craters.
  • Small ghost crater at 45° North/ 32° West. Discovered by Danny Caes via LOIV-145-h2.
  • Chain of depressions at 44°15' North/ 32°40' West. Discovered by Danny Caes via LOIV-145-h2.
  • Curious elongated trough near Promontorium Heraclides, see left margin of LOIV-139-h2.


The Jewelled Handle effect

  • Observer's note: when the sunrise terminator is located at Sinus Iridum and the arc-shaped Montes Jura, the Jewelled Handle effect is in its full glory (this is a remarkable Clair-Obscur phenomenon described by Sir Patrick Moore in his moonbooks). The Jewelled handle effect is one of the most binocular-friendly lunar Clair-Obscur phenomena! (you really don't need a powerful telescope to observe it!). Exactly 24 hours earlier the sunrise terminator was located at Copernicus. See LPOD 24 Hours.


The appearance of the Jewelled Handle effect in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey

  • The Jewelled Handle at Sinus Iridum and Montes Jura was very well depicted in the first appearance of the Waxing Gibbous Moon in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey, when the globe shaped lunar lander Aries departed en-route to the moon, with professor Heywood Floyd in it) (great music of Strauss!).


Buzz Saw (the opposite of the Jewelled Handle effect)


Sinus Iridum, a man's ear?

  • Most of us know the Head of the Lady in the Full Moon. This is one of the many pareidolia seen by those who have good eyesight. The lady's dark hair is the combination of Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Fecunditatis, and Mare Nectaris, and her westward looking face is the combination of Mare Vaporum (her eyes), Sinus Medii (her mouth), and the bright raycrater Tycho as the gem in her necklace. Now, there seems to be a man's face too, made by the combination of Mare Imbrium and Sinus Iridum. This man should be the lady's lover. Sinus Iridum is his ear. Source: LUNE, an artistic documentary about the moon-related tides and biology, broadcasted on an European channel called -5-, december 31, 2015. - DannyCaes Jan 1, 2016
  • The Head of the Lady is also depicted on the National Geographic Society's map The Earth's Moon (sans the man's face). - DannyCaes Jan 1, 2016


Nomenclature

  • Called Sinus Iridum by Riccioli (Bay of Rainbows), Sinus Geometricus by Langrenus, and Sinus Apollinis by Hevelius.
  • The pronounced wrinkle ridge running immediately east of the bowl-shaped crater Laplace A (at the eastern part of S.Iridum) is unofficially called Dorsum Laplace A by - DannyCaes Sep 10, 2011.


Lunar 100

L14: Very large crater with missing rim.

LROC Articles


LPOD Articles


Bibliography



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