The Moon has been divided into 30 quadrangles by the United States Geological Survey at the 1:2,500,000 map scale.[1] At the 1:1,000,000 scale it's divided into 144 quadrangles.[2]
The quadrangles are numbered in bands from north to south. Each band is then divided into a latitude-dependent number of quadrangles. At the poles, the bands consist of a single quadrangle, so LQ01 is a circle around the north pole.
| Name | Number | Latitude | Longitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| LQ01 | 65° to 90° | −180° to 180° | |
| LQ02 | 30° to 65° | −180° to −120° | |
| LQ03 | −120° to −60° | ||
| LQ04 | −60° to 0° | ||
| LQ05 | 0° to 60° | ||
| LQ06 | 60° to 120° | ||
| LQ07 | 120° to 180° | ||
| LQ08 | 0° to 30° | −180° to −135° | |
| LQ09 | −135° to −90° | ||
| Marius[3] | LQ10 | −90° to −45° | |
| Copernicus[3] | LQ11 | −45° to 0° | |
| LQ12 | 0° to 45° | ||
| LQ13 | 45° to 90° | ||
| LQ14 | 90° to 135° | ||
| LQ15 | 135° to 180° | ||
| LQ16 | −30° to 0° | −180° to −135° | |
| LQ17 | −135° to −90° | ||
| Grimaldi[4] | LQ18 | −90° to −45° | |
| Mare Nubium[5] | LQ19 | −45° to 0° | |
| LQ20 | 0° to 45° | ||
| LQ21 | 45° to 90° | ||
| LQ22 | 90° to 135° | ||
| LQ23 | 135° to 180° | ||
| LQ24 | −65° to −30° | −180° to −120° | |
| LQ25 | −120° to −60° | ||
| LQ26 | −60° to 0° | ||
| LQ27 | 0° to 60° | ||
| LQ28 | 60° to 120° | ||
| Planck[6] | LQ29 | 120° to 180° | |
| Lunar South Pole[7] | LQ30 | −90° to −65° | −180° to 180° |
| Farside | Nearside | Farside | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LQ01 | |||||||||||
| LQ02 | LQ03 | LQ04 | LQ05 | LQ06 | LQ07 | ||||||
| LQ08 | LQ09 | LQ10 | LQ11 | LQ12 | LQ13 | LQ14 | LQ15 | ||||
| LQ16 | LQ17 | LQ18 | LQ19 | LQ20 | LQ21 | LQ22 | LQ23 | ||||
| LQ24 | LQ25 | LQ26 | LQ27 | LQ28 | LQ29 | ||||||
| LQ30 | |||||||||||
At the 1:1,000,000 scale, there are 12 latitude bands, 6 in each hemisphere. The bands nearest the equator are 16° high, and the first and last bands are 10° radius circles around the poles. The bands are then divided into quadrangles, but unlike the 1:2,500,000 system, the seam is placed at +10° longitude (so 0° longitude is in the middle of a quadrangle), and the numbering within a band starts between −80° and −90°:
- (±90° to ±80°) 1 quadrangle of 360°, beginning at −80°
- (±80° to ±64°) 8 quadrangles of 45°, beginning at −80°
- (±64° to ±48°) 12 quadrangles of 30°, beginning at −80°
- (±48° to ±32°) 15 quadrangles of 24°, beginning at −86°
- (±32° to ±16°) 18 quadrangles of 20°, beginning at −90°
- (±16° to 0°) 18 quadrangles of 20°, beginning at −90°
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Lunar Geologic Mapping". NASA/USGS Planetary Geologic Mapping Program. 2007-09-19. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
- ^ USGS Astrogeology: Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature - USGS Digital Atlas of the Moon
- ^ a b "Lunar Geologic Mapping: Mapping Scheme and Layout". NASA/USGS Planetary Geologic Mapping Program. 2006-04-21. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ Liu, Jianzhong; et al. (2020). "NEW GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE LQ-18 (GRIMALDI) QUADRANGLE ON THE MOON". 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.
- ^ Liu, Jianzhong; et al. (2017). "NEW GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE LQ-19 (MARE NUBIUM) QUADRANGLE ON THE MOON". Lunar and Planetary Science XLVIII.
- ^ Yingst, R.A; et al. (2017). "GEOLOGIC MAPPING OF THE PLANCK QUADRANGLE OF THE MOON (LQ-29)". Lunar and Planetary Science XLVIII.
- ^ Mest, S.C.; et al. (2015). "UPDATE ON THE GEOLOGIC MAPPING OF THE LUNAR SOUTH POLE QUADRANGLE (LQ-30): EVALUATING MARE, CRYPTOMARE AND IMPACT MELT DEPOSITS". 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.