Kepler
Location: ·
A young ray crater whose bright spokes cross those of its neighbor Copernicus.
Type
Crater
Diameter
29 km
Position
8.1°N 38.0°W
Name approved
1935
Kepler is 29 km across and its ray system reaches more than 300 km, a span far out of proportion to the crater. The rays are bright because the impact threw out material from beneath the mare, and that ejecta is both compositionally distinct from the dark basalt it lies on and too young to have been weathered dark.
The same geometry limits what can be seen when: the rays need a high Sun to show against the mare, while the crater's own low rim needs a low one.
Sunrise
Sunset
Sunrise and sunset on Kepler
| Event | Time | Lit |
|---|---|---|
| Computing… | ||
- Sunrise / Sunset: at the feature's centre (IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature).
- Lit: the illuminated fraction of the Moon's disc at that moment.
Named after
Johannes Kepler, German astronomer (1571–1630).
Further info
Official record from the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: Kepler
Wikipedia: Kepler (lunar crater)