Paschen (crater)

Paschen is a lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon. The relatively large satellite crater Paschen M partly overlies the southern rim of Paschen, and they nearly form a merged pair with only a section of irregular terrain along their common border. The smaller but well-formed crater Paschen S lies across the southwestern rim of Paschen. As a result, most of the southern rim of Paschen is now gone.

Paschen

LRO WAC image
Coordinates	13.5°S 139.8°W / -13.5; -139.8
Diameter	124 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	142° at sunrise
Eponym	Friedrich Paschen

The remainder of the rim is not in much better condition. It is worn and eroded, with multiple small craterlets along the edge and inner wall. Most of the rim structure has been worn away by subsequent impacts and deposits of ejecta, and now forms a rounded dip into the curving interior. A small chain of craters cuts across the rim and inner wall to the west-northwest. There are several small craterlets in the southeastern part of the floor.

Paschen lies to the east of the larger walled plain Galois, and to the southwest of the huge Hertzsprung. About half a crater diameter to the northeast of Paschen is Wan-Hoo. Farther to the north-northwest lies Sechenov.

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 Paschen.

Paschen	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
G	14.3° S	135.4° W	29 km
H	16.0° S	135.6° W	27 km
K	17.9° S	138.9° W	57 km
L	16.4° S	139.5° W	38 km
M	16.1° S	140.0° W	94 km
S	14.5° S	142.0° W	48 km
U	13.2° S	143.0° W	29 km

References

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.