Messier
Location: ·
A bullet-like grazing impact — with its twin it trails a comet-tail of rays across Mare Fecunditatis.
Messier and Messier A are the standard lunar example of a grazing impact. One projectile came in at a few degrees above horizontal, cut the elongated Messier, and continued west to make Messier A. The two bright rays running more than 100 km west from Messier A are downrange ejecta, thrown forward along the line of travel rather than radially - which is why they point one way and not outward in all directions.
Messier's elongation runs east-west and is real, not foreshortening; Messier A's runs north-south, across it.
Sunrise
Sunset
Sunrise and sunset on Messier
| 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
Charles Messier, French astronomer (1730–1817).
Further info
Official record from the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: Messier
Wikipedia: Messier (crater)