Boguslawsky (crater)

Boguslawsky
Lunar Orbiter 4 image with north at top
Coordinates72°54′S 43°12′E / 72.9°S 43.2°E / -72.9; 43.2
Diameter97 km
Depth3.4 km
Colongitude317° at sunrise
EponymPalon von Boguslawsky

Boguslawsky is a lunar impact crater that is located near the southern lunar limb, to the northwest of the slightly larger crater Demonax, and southwest of the concentric crater Boussingault. Due to its location, this crater appears very oblong in shape because of foreshortening.

The crater area (bottom right) in a Selenochromatic format Image (Si)

The floor of this crater is flooded and relatively featureless. The rim is somewhat worn and relatively low above the surrounding surface. The crater Boguslawsky D lies across the eastern rim.

The crater was named after German astronomer Palm Heinrich Ludwig von Boguslawski.[1]

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 Boguslawsky.

Boguslawsky Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 74.4° S 44.3° E 6 km
B 73.9° S 61.0° E 63 km
C 70.9° S 27.7° E 36 km
D 72.8° S 47.3° E 24 km
E 74.2° S 53.6° E 14 km
F 75.3° S 52.5° E 30 km
G 71.5° S 34.5° E 21 km
H 72.8° S 29.1° E 19 km
J 72.2° S 28.9° E 36 km
K 73.5° S 50.9° E 46 km
L 70.6° S 36.6° E 22 km
M 70.6° S 35.2° E 9 km
N 74.0° S 33.3° E 28 km

Exploration

The Luna 25 lunar lander mission by Roscosmos was planned to land in the vicinity of crater Boguslawsky. It was launched on 10 August 2023 and it successfully entered lunar orbit six days later. However, on August 19 communications were lost and it was reported to crash on the inner rim of Pontécoulant G crater.[2] If successful, the mission would have sampled and studied the lunar regolith from the upper most layer of the subsurface and measured the content of dust, neutrals and plasma during the cycle of the lunar local time.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Geology of the Lunar Glob landing sites in Boguslawsky crater, Moon" (PDF).
  2. ^ "NSSDCA - Luna 25". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  3. ^ Mitrofanov, Igor. "Luna-Glob" and "Luna-Resurs": science goals, payload and status (PDF). EGU General Assembly 2014.