Tycho
Location: ·
A young, bright crater whose ray system dominates the full Moon.
Type
Crater
Diameter
85 km
Position
43.3°S 11.2°W
Name approved
1935
Tycho is only about 108 million years old — recent enough that its ejecta has not yet been darkened by space weathering. The result is the brightest feature on the near side at full Moon, with rays reaching more than 1,500 km across the southern highlands.
The crater itself is 85 km wide and 4.8 km deep, with terraced walls and a central peak rising 2 km from the floor. Under a high Sun it is unmistakable; near the terminator the rays vanish entirely and only the relief remains.
Sunrise
Sunset
Sunrise and sunset on Tycho
| 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
Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (1546–1601).
Further info
Official record from the IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: Tycho
Wikipedia: Tycho (lunar crater)