Another Basin on Another Limb
Explanation:
It's not fair! On the Earth-facing side of the Moon only two impact
basins have significant rim segments - Imbrium and Nectaris. But just over the western
limb is Orientale, one of the most complete basins
in the solar system, and on the NE limb is Humboldtianum,
another basin with significant preserved rims. What's even less fair is that most
of these basins have named rims: the Apennines, the Caucasus, the Altai, the Cordillera
and the Rook. But as shown in Dave's excellent image, the inner and outer rings of
the Humboldtianum basin are quite prominent, yet they are unnamed. I hereby propose
some informal names for these rings to ease discussion of them. Following the common
habit of naming lunar mountains after terrestrial mountains, I propose that the 650
km wide outer ring of the Humboldtianum basin be named the Andes Mountains, which
reflects Alexander von Humboldt's exploration of this South American range. And since
the inner ring of the Orientale basin is called the Rook Mountains, for symmetry
(and thinking back to my chess playing days), the 340 km diameter inner Humboldtianum
ring is here named the Bishop Mountains. Now all that is needed to really appreciate
these rings is a rectification of this image!
—
Chuck
Wood
Technical Details:
August 2, 2004. 216 mm f/5 Newtonian + 2X Barlow + ToUcam. The best 60% of ~150 images
were stacked and enhanced using Registax 2.
Related Links:
Dave's Astronomy
Pictures
Rukl Atlas of the Moon, Sheet 7
