Von Kármán (lunar crater)

Von Kármán is a large lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. The crater is about 180 km (110 mi) in diameter and lies within an immense impact crater known as the South Pole–Aitken basin of roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and 13 km (8.1 mi) deep.[1] Von Kármán is the site of the first soft-landing on the lunar far side by the Chinese Chang'e 4 spacecraft on 3 January 2019.

This article is about the crater on the Moon. For the Martian crater, see Von Kármán (Martian crater).

Von Kármán

LRO image
Coordinates	44.8°S 175.9°E / -44.8; 175.9
Diameter	180 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	188° at sunrise
Eponym	Theodore von Kármán

Shaded relief topographic map of the crater.

Oblique Lunar Orbiter 5 image, looking west; north sector of crater buried by Leibnitz ejecta

Overview

The northern third of this formation is overlain by the rim and outer rampart of the walled plain Leibnitz, forming a deep indentation in the formation. The remainder of the outer wall is roughly circular in shape, although it is irregular and heavily worn by subsequent impacts.

The interior of Von Kármán has been subjected to flooding by lava flows after the original crater formed, leaving the southern portion of the floor nearly flat. This surface has a lower albedo than the surrounding terrain, and is nearly as dark as the interior of Leibnitz. There is a central peak at the location where the midpoint of the original Von Kármán was formed, which joins with the rougher surface in the northern part of the crater.

In addition to Leibnitz to the north, the crater Oresme is located to the west-northwest, and Finsen lies to the northeast on the edge of Leibnitz's rim. Nearly attached to the southeast rim is the unusual figure-eight-shaped Von Kármán L formation. Directly to the east of this is the crater Alder.

Prior to formal naming in 1970 by the IAU,[2] the crater was known as Crater 434.[3]

Exploration

On 3 January 2019, the Chinese spacecraft Chang'e 4 landed inside the Von Kármán crater, becoming the first spacecraft to soft-land on the far side of the Moon.[4] The site has symbolic as well as scientific value. Theodore von Kármán (1881-1963) was the PhD advisor of Qian Xuesen, the founder of the Chinese space program.[5]

On February 4, 2019, the IAU approved the name of the landing site as Statio Tianhe[6]. The central peak of Von Kármán, to the northwest of the landing site, was named Mons Tai.[7] Three small craters were also named: Hegu[8] is south of the landing site, Zhinyu[9] is to the west, and Tianjin[10] is to the northeast.

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 Von Kármán.

Von Kármán	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
L	47.7° S	177.9° E	29 km
M	47.2° S	176.2° E	225 km
R	45.8° S	170.8° E	28 km

References

1. Petro, Noah E.; Pieters, Carle M. (2004-05-05), "Surviving the heavy bombardment: Ancient material at the surface of South Pole-Aitken Basin" (PDF), Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, Bibcode:2004JGRE..109.6004P, doi:10.1029/2003je002182
2. Von Kármán, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
3. Lunar Farside Chart (LFC-1A)
4. Lyons, Kate. "Chang'e 4 landing: China probe makes historic touchdown on far side of the moon". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
5. "Hsue-Shen Tsien". Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
6. Statio Tianhe, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU), Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
7. Mons Tai, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU), Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
8. Hegu, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU), Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
9. Zhinyu, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU), Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
10. Tianjin, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU), Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)

Bibliography

• Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2007-08-05.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)