image byElias Chasiotis, Markopoulo, Greece
Maginus is a little Clavius. It is not as large (163 km vs 225 km) and its probably a little older. But it has similar tired terraces and a smoothed floor that covers all but a stubble of the central peaks. The nature of the floor material is uncertain - basin ejecta or some sort of volcanism. One clue are the craters on the floor with breached rims that have been embayed by the floor material. More of these features are visible just outside the southern rim of Magninus. Breached walled craters are common in maria, for lava has some poorly understood way of removing walls without leaving a trace. For my money, these features are more evidence for a type of volcanism that we didn’t document with Apollo samples. A more convential view might be that the smooth plains are ejecta and the broken rim craters are secondaries from a basin - presumably Orientale. What say you?
Technical Details:
12/28/2006, 17:14 UT. C11 at F18 + EQ6 Pro mount + DMK21BF04 firewire camera + Baader IR pass filter + Baader IR pass filter 685nm, Registax 4.
Related Links:
Rükl plate 73
Sunset view
A conventional explanation
Yesterday's LPOD: A Mystery Crater
Tomorrow's LPOD: Sacrebleu? No, Sacrobosco
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