Vitello (crater)

Vitello is a lunar impact crater that lies along the southern edge of the small Mare Humorum, in the southwest part of the Moon's near side. It was named after 13th century Polish theologian and physicist Vitello.[1] It lies just to the east of the lava-flooded crater Lee. To the northeast along the edge of the lunar mare is the Rupes Kelvin, an irregular fault line.

Vitello

Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	30.4°S 37.5°W / -30.4; -37.5
Diameter	42 km
Depth	1.7 km
Colongitude	37° at sunrise
Eponym	Vitello

Lunar Orbiter 5 closeup of an area west of the central peak, showing large boulders on the surface.

LRO image of the pattern of dark deposits at the crest of the central peak of Vitello

Description

This crater has a low, roughly circular rim with a sharp edge. The interior floor is irregular, rugged and hilly, with a smaller, concentric crater offset to the east of the midpoint. A low ridge projects out from the northwest rim into the mare.

Vitello was once believed to be a caldera rather than an impact crater. In To A Rocky Moon, lunar geologist Don E. Wilhelms summarized: It "is a Saari-Shorthill infrared hotspot,[2] is fractured, and is blanketed and surrounded by a dark deposit. If there is a caldera on the moon, this ought to be it." However, Lunar Orbiter 5 acquired high-resolution images of the interior and geologists noted that the fractures were filled with boulders which caused the infrared anomaly, and so volcanic heat was not escaping from Vitello. Wilhelms concluded "...if it is a caldera, its activity expired long ago."[3]

Satellite craters

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

Vitello	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	34.1° S	41.9° W	21 km
B	31.1° S	35.4° W	11 km
C	32.4° S	42.5° W	14 km
D	33.2° S	41.0° W	18 km
E	29.2° S	35.8° W	7 km
G	32.3° S	37.6° W	10 km
H	32.8° S	43.0° W	12 km
K	31.9° S	37.6° W	13 km
L	31.6° S	35.3° W	7 km
M	32.4° S	36.0° W	7 km
N	32.1° S	36.1° W	5 km
P	31.2° S	38.4° W	9 km
R	33.0° S	37.0° W	3 km
S	30.8° S	35.2° W	6 km
T	33.8° S	39.6° W	9 km
X	32.2° S	40.6° W	8 km

References

1. "Vitello (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
2. Shorthill, R. W., and Saari, J. M. 1966, Recent discovery of hot spots on the lunar surface - a brief report of infrared measurements on the eclipsed Moon. in Hess, W. N., Menzel, D. H., and O'Keefe, J. A., eds. The nature of the lunar surface - Proceedings of the 1965 IAU-NASA symposium: Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press p. 215-228
3. To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration. Don E. Wilhelms, University of Arizona Press (1993). ISBN 978-0816510658

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2007-10-24.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Lunar Orbiter 5 images of Vitello, including high-resolution frames of interior
• "Downhill Creep or Flow?". Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA. 4 April 2013. Includes high-resolution view of the interior of Vitello
• "Pattern of dark deposits". Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. NASA. 1 September 2011. Includes high-resolution view of the interior of Vitello