Boyle is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the rugged far side of the Moon. It is adjacent to the larger crater Hess to the southeast, and lies about midway between the craters Alder to the north-northeast and Abbe to the south-southwest.

Boyle
Boyle crater and satellite craters
Coordinates53°06′S 178°06′E / 53.1°S 178.1°E / -53.1; 178.1
Diameter57 km
DepthUnknown
Colongitude176° at sunrise
EponymRobert Boyle
Oblique view of Hess (left of center) and Boyle (right of center), facing west. Lunar Orbiter 5 image.

The outer rim of Boyle is nearly circular, and displays some slumping around the interior. Most of the rim is sharp-edged and displays little appearance of wear due to subsequent impacts. The southern rim, however, is overlain by a wide, irregular groove in the surface that follows a course from east to west along the rim. There is also an overlapping formation of tiny craterlets overlapping the narrow strip of terrain that joins Boyle to Hess.

The interior of the crater is relatively flat, with a long, low central ridge at the midpoint. This rise is aligned in a linear formation from southwest to northeast. There is a tiny craterlet near the eastern rim, but the interior is otherwise undistinguished.

Satellite craters

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

Boyle Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 50.8° S 178.3° E 21 km
Z 51.3° S 177.7° E 52 km

References

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  • Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
  • Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  • Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
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  • McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  • 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. S2CID 122125855.
  • Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
  • Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
  • Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
  • Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.
  • Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
  • Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.
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