Dawson (crater)

Dawson

Coordinates	67°24′S 134°42′W / 67.4°S 134.7°W / -67.4; -134.7Coordinates: 67°24′S 134°42′W / 67.4°S 134.7°W / -67.4; -134.7
Diameter	45 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	137° at sunrise
Eponym	Bernhard H. Dawson

Dawson is a lunar impact crater that lies on the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It lies across a crater triplet: the southeast rim is intruding into the crater Alekhin; the northwest rim also intrudes into the larger satellite crater Dawson V, and the northeast rim is attached to the comparably sized Dawson D. To the south of this formation is the large crater Zeeman. West of Dawson is the crater Crommelin, and to the north lies Fizeau.

Dawson is a relatively young formation that lies in the midst of a field of ancient, heavily eroded craters. The outer rim is nearly circular, but slightly distorted due to the craters it overlaps. The western rim is slightly flattened where it overlaps Dawson V. The crater formation shows little appearance of wear, with only a small craterlet across the northwest rim and another inside the northeast rim. The interior is irregular with some slight terraces along parts of the inner wall.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater mid-point that is closest to Dawson.

Dawson	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
D	66.6° S	131.7° W	39 km
V	66.6° S	137.0° W	58 km

References

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A., (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097. 
• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2. 
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 0-936389-27-3. 
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. http://host.planet4589.org/astro/lunar/. 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.  edit
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 0-304-35469-4. 
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33500-0. 
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-913135-17-8. 
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revision ed.). Dover. ISBN 0-486-20917-2. 
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62248-4. 
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 1-85233-193-3.