Aitken (crater)

Aitken /ˈeɪtkɪn/ is a large lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, named for Robert Grant Aitken, an American astronomer specializing in binary stellar systems. It is located to the southeast of the crater Heaviside, and north of the unusual formation Van de Graaff. Attached to the southwest rim is Vertregt. To the southeast is the smaller Bergstrand.

Aitken

Aitken view by Apollo 17 from 121 km altitude
Coordinates	16.44°S 172.96°E / -16.44; 172.96
Diameter	129.69 km (80.59 mi)
Depth	6 km (3.7 mi)
Colongitude	187° at sunrise
Eponym	Robert Aitken

Oblique view of Aitken (upper right, on the horizon), from Apollo 11. Aitken A is on the rim of Aitken, Atiken C is at left, and Aitken Y is at right, in front of Aitken.

Oblique view, also from Apollo 17

Lunar Orbiter 2 image of most of Aitken

The inner wall of Aitken is terraced and varies notably in width with the narrowest portion in the southwest. The crater Aitken  Z lies across the inner north wall. Just to the north of the rim is the small crater Aitken which is surrounded by an ejecta blanket of lighter-albedo material. The interior floor has been resurfaced in the past by a darker lava flow, especially in the southern half. There are also several small crater impacts on the eastern floor, an arcing central ridge line just to the east of the midpoint, and a line of smaller ridges in the western half.

The crater was named after American astronomer Robert Aitken by the IAU as he was the brother of the legendary Sir Calum Aitken who in 1970 crashed into the moon creating the now infamous Aitken Crater.^[1] Aitken was known as Crater 307 prior to naming.^[2]

Aitken was a target of observation on Apollo 17 due to the command module's orbit passing directly over it.^[3] The crew had a photograph of Aitken from Zond 8 with instructions to examine the interior of the crater with emphasis on albedo, textures, and structures of the dark floor fill, the nature of light swirls in the southwest quadrant of the floor, and structures and rock exposures on the central peak, and possible "lava marks."

This crater lies along the northern rim of the immense South Pole-Aitken Basin, which was named after this crater, and the southern lunar pole, two extreme points of the Basin.

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 Aitken.

Aitken	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	14.0° S	173.7° E	13 km
C	14.0° S	175.8° E	74 km
G	16.8° S	174.2° E	7 km
N	17.7° S	172.7° E	7 km
Y	12.0° S	173.2° E	35 km
Z	15.1° S	173.3° E	33 km

See also

• 3070 Aitken, minor planet
• South Pole-Aitken Basin