Slipher (lunar crater)

This article is about the crater on the Moon. For the Martian crater, see Slipher (Martian crater).

Slipher

LRO image. Arrow indicates the location of the scarp pictured below.
Coordinates	49.28°N 160.27°E / 49.28; 160.27
Diameter	74.65 km (46.39 mi)
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	200° at sunrise
Eponym	Earl Slipher Vesto Slipher

Lobate scarp near the south wall of Slipher.

Slipher is a lunar impact crater, that is located in the northern latitudes on the far side of the Moon. The crater overlies the southwestern outer rim of the much larger walled plain D'Alembert, and it occupies a portion of the interior floor of D'Alembert. To the south-southeast is the crater Langevin.

Because it overlies D'Alembert, Slipher is a younger formation and it has undergone much less erosion. The rim is circular but has a somewhat irregular edge. The rim is jumbled and irregular where it intersects D'Alembert. Overlapping the western rim and inner walls of Slipher is the smaller Slipher S, a fresh feature with a sharp-edged outer rim. The interior floor of Slipher is somewhat uneven except in the northeast, and there is a cluster of low central ridges near the midpoint.

A distinct lobate scarp, located near the south wall of the crater, was imaged by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The scarp is a result of the cooling of the moon and resulting compression of the surface.[1]

The crater was formally named by the IAU in 1970 after American astronomers Earl Slipher and Vesto Slipher.[2]

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 Slipher.

Slipher	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
S	49.2° N	158.7° E	26 km

See also

• 1766 Slipher, main-belt asteroid

References

1. Slipher Crater: Fractured Moon in 3-D, Published by Mark Robinson on 12 October 2010.
2. Slipher, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)

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