Cauchy (crater)

Cauchy

Apollo 17 image, with north at bottom
Coordinates	9.56°N 38.63°E / 9.56; 38.63
Diameter	11.8 km (7.3 mi)
Depth	2.6 km (1.6 mi)
Colongitude	321° at sunrise
Eponym	Augustin L. Cauchy

The crater area (on the bottom left) in selenochromatic format

Lunar Orbiter 4 image

Cauchy is a small lunar impact crater on the eastern Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy. It is circular and symmetric, with a small interior floor at the midpoint of the sloping inner walls. Due to the high albedo of this bowl-shaped formation, it is particularly prominent at full Moon.

Cauchy lies between the Rupes Cauchy and the Rimae Cauchy, as described below.

South of Rupes Cauchy are two lunar domes designated Omega (ω) Cauchy and Tau (τ) Cauchy. They lie to the south and southwest of Cauchy respectively. Each lunar dome has a small depression at its crest, which is likely to be a volcanic vent rather than an impact crater. The vent at the top of Omega Cauchy is called Donna.

Rupes Cauchy

Selenographic features around Cauchy as well as its satellite craters and the small Donna Crater to the south

To the south of Cauchy is a 120-km fault in the surface named the Rupes Cauchy, which forms a series of cliffs or escarpments. This wall roughly parallels the Rima Cauchy to the north.

Rupes Cauchy was named Fossa Casalis in a 1974 map, but this was not approved by the IAU. The term Rupes was used in favor of Fossa for the names of lunar scarps.

Rima Cauchy

To the north of Cauchy is the rille named Rima Cauchy, a 210-kilometer-long graben.

Rima Cauchy was named Fossa Cauchy in a 1974 map, but term Rima was used in favor of Fossa for the names of lunar rilles.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Cauchy.

Cauchy is in the upper right quadrant between Rupes Cauchy and Rimae Cauchy in this Apollo 8 image. Omega and Tau Cauchy are visible below the Rupes Cauchy.

Cauchy	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	12.1° N	37.9° E	8 km
B	9.8° N	35.8° E	6 km
C	8.2° N	38.9° E	4 km
D	10.0° N	40.3° E	9 km
E	8.9° N	38.6° E	4 km
F	9.6° N	36.8° E	4 km
M	7.6° N	35.1° E	5 km
U	8.8° N	42.3° E	5 km
V	9.0° N	41.5° E	5 km
W	10.6° N	41.6° E	4 km

Cauchy A is shown as Hussein on some lunar maps based on Apollo 15 photographs, but the name was not approved by the IAU, which officially designated the crater name in 2006.

Cauchy A crater

References

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
• Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855.
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.

External links

• LTO-61A3 Cauchy — L&PI topographic map