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Cassini_05072014_184036_UT

 

(Freely adapted from Wikipedia)

 

Cassini is a lunar impact crater (dia. 57 Km, dept. 1.2 Km) that is located in the Palus Nebularum, at the eastern end of Mare Imbrium. To the northeast is the Promontorium Agassiz, the southern tip of the Montes Alpes mountain range. South by south-east of Cassini is the crater Theaetetus. To the northwest is the lone peak Mons Piton.

The floor of Cassini is flooded, and is likely as old as the surrounding mare. The surface is peppered with a multitude of impacts, including a pair of significant craters contained entirely within the rim. Cassini A is the larger of these two, and it lies just north-east of the crater center. A hilly ridge area runs from this inner crater toward the south-east. Near the south-west rim of Cassini is the smaller crater Cassini B.

The walls of this crater are narrow and irregular in form but remain intact despite the lava flooding. Beyond the crater rim is a significant and irregular outer rampart.

For unknown reasons, this crater was omitted from early maps of the Moon. This crater is not of recent origin, however, so the omission was most likely an error on the part of the map-makers.

Mons Piton is an isolated lunar mountain that is located in the eastern part of the Mare Imbrium, to the north-northwest of the crater Aristillus. Due east of Mons Piton is the flooded crater Cassini. North and northeast of this massif is the Montes Alpes range, forming the northeast edge of the lunar mare.

It has a diameter of 25 km. It is slightly elongated along toward the northwest, with ridge lines to the south, northwest, and west. The peak climbs to a height of 2.3 km, typical of the peaks in the Montes Alpes, but much lower than Mons Blanc, which rises to 3.6 km. Because it is an isolated formation on the lunar mare, this peak can form prominent shadows when illuminated by oblique sunlight during the lunar dawn or dusk.

Mons Piton was named for a peak on Tenerife Island.




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