Hypatia (crater)

Hypatia (crater)

240px Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates
Diameter	41 × 28 km
Depth	1.4 km
Colongitude	338° at sunrise
Eponym	Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia is a lunar crater that lies along the northwest edge of Sinus Asperitatis, a bay on the southwest edge of Mare Tranquillitatis. The nearest crater with an eponym is Alfraganus to the west-southwest. However, farther to the south-southeast, across the lunar mare, is the prominent crater Theophilus.

Hypatia is an asymmetrical formation with a rugged, irregular outer rim that is cut through by narrow clefts in several locations. It is generally longer along an axis running to the north-northwest, with the widest outward bulge occurring on the west side at the northern end. It resembles a merger of several crater formations that have gained a common interior floor. Attached to the exterior rim along the southwest is the satellite crater Hypatia A, a more symmetrical, bowl-shaped crater.

Moltke crater in the center, with Rimae Hypatia behind it (Apollo 10 photo)

File:Hypatia crater AS16-M-0827.jpg

Oblique view of Hypatia from Apollo 16

About 70 kilometers to the north of Hypatia is a system of linear rilles designated Rimae Hypatia. This runs for a length of about 180 kilometers across the Mare Tranquillitatis, and generally follows a course to the south-southeast.

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 Hypatia.

Hypatia	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	4.9° S	22.2° E	16 km
B	4.6° S	21.3° E	5 km
C	0.9° S	20.8° E	15 km
D	3.1° S	22.7° E	6 km
E	0.3° S	20.4° E	6 km
F	4.1° S	21.5° E	8 km
G	2.7° S	23.0° E	5 km
H	4.5° S	24.1° E	5 km
M	5.3° S	23.4° E	28 km
R	1.9° S	21.2° E	4 km