September 29, 2012
Odd Interiors
image by Alex Sanz, Ayllon, Spain
What is wrong with Capella? Its next door neighbor Isidorus appears like an older version of Hercules - a normal mid-sized impact crater shallowed by material perhaps from its walls that created a smooth floor. Isidorus still has a sharp rim crest, but Capella has a very irregular rim and an interior that seems to be completely occupied by a closely spaced series of slumps - there is no floor, just wall debris that surrounds the central peak. The smaller crater just to the east also has an odd, almost similar irregular look. And further east near the right edge of the image is a very similar crater, Gutenberg G. Are these odd-interior craters associated with some property of the material they formed in or is it just a coincidence they are near each other? Capella has been overlain with a large secondary crater chain, radial to the Imbrium Basin, but it is not likely that the chain caused the crater's odd looks. So what did?
Chuck Wood
PS - Don't get excited by the pit in Capella's central peak - the LRO QuickMap gives no suggestion that it is volcanic.
Technical Details
September the 4th, 2012 at 01:01 U.T. C11 at f/30, DMK 31 (27 fps) + red filter
Related Links
Rükl plate 47
Alex's website
Yesterday's LPOD: Polar Geography*
Tomorrow's LPOD: Cloudsourcing Vents
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