Astronomy:Bečvář (crater)

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Short description: Lunar impact crater
Bečvář
Becvar crater AS17-150-23073.jpg
Oblique view of Bečvář from Apollo 17, facing north. Bečvář X is at top near center, Bečvář Q is below left of center, and Bečvář J is partially visible in lower right.
Diameter67 km
DepthUnknown
Colongitude236° at sunrise
Oblique view centered on Bečvář and showing the 200-km-diameter crater spanning the image

Bečvář (Czech pronunciation: [ˈbɛtʃvaːr̝̊]) is a lunar impact crater that is located near the equator on the far side of the Moon. It lies to the northeast of the crater Necho, within that feature's ray system. To the north-northeast is the crater Gregory.

This is a worn, eroded crater system with a few tiny craterlets lying across the floor and rim. A double-crater formation occupies the southwestern rim, with Bečvář Q forming the northwestern member of this pair. The crater Bečvář X is attached to the northern rim.

The crater was named after Czechoslovakian astronomer Antonín Bečvář by the IAU in 1970.[1] The crater was known as Crater 283 prior to naming.[2]

Bečvář lies at the center of an unnamed, highly subdued, 200-km-diameter crater which was originally discovered during the Apollo 16 mission and reported by Farouk El-Baz. The name Necho was proposed for the crater, but the name was eventually adopted for the small, bright-rayed crater along the south margin of the unnamed crater.[3]

Satellite craters

Apollo 17's CSM America above Bečvář X

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

Bečvář Latitude Longitude Diameter
D 1.5° S 126.5° E 15 km
E 2.0° S 127.8° E 15 km
J 3.6° S 126.6° E 45 km
Q 2.9° S 124.0° E 28 km
S 3.0° S 121.1° E 14 km
T 1.8° S 121.9° E 27 km
X 0.6° S 124.2° E 26 km
Map of the region around Bečvář

References

  1. Bečvář, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  2. Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A)
  3. Apollo 16 Preliminary Science Report (NASA SP-315), 1972, Chapter 29, Part H: Discovery of Two Lunar Features [1]

External links