Distant Suns - Astronomy on a higher level

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                                       Crater of June

                         
  Crater of the month - Conon

  

Image taken by Apollo 17

 

Conon is a small but prominent lunar impact crater that lies in the eastern foothills of the Montes Apenninus mountain range. Just to the west of Conon is the long mountainous ridge named Mons Bradley. The nearest craters possessing an eponym are Galen, about 70 kilometers to the east, and Aratus, about the same distance to the northeast.

The edge of the Conon crater rim is sharply defined and has not received significant erosion from later impacts. The inner wall is somewhat variable in width, and the interior floor forms an irregular oval shape. This irregularity may be due to the rough and uneven surface on which the crater was formed. The floor is rough, but lacks a central prominence of note.

To the south, in the Sinus Fidei, is a sinuous rille that follows a course to the south-southeast. This rille is designated Rima Conon, and is named after this crater.

History

Conon of Samos (circa 280 BC - circa: 220 BC) was a Greek astronomer and mathematician.

Conon was born on Samos, Ionia, and possibly died in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt, where he was court astronomer to Ptolemy III Euergetes. He named the constellation Coma Berenices ("Berenice's Hair") after Ptolemy's wife Berenice II. She sacrificed her hair in exchange for her husband's safe return from the Third Syrian War, which began in 246 BCE. When the lock of hair disappeared, Conon explained that the goddess had shown her favor by placing it in the sky. Not all Greek astronomers accepted the designation. In Ptolemy's Almagest, Coma Berenices is not listed as a distinct constellation. However, Ptolemy does attribute several seasonal indications (parapegma) to Conon.

Conon was a friend of the mathematician Archimedes. Apollonius of Perga reported that he worked on conic sections

Satellite craters

Conon Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 19.7° N 4.5° E 7 km
W 18.7° N 3.0° E 4 km
Y 22.3° N 1.9° E 4 km

The hand shows the location of the Conon crater on the lunar surface.

Image taken from Distant Suns 6

 

 

 

 
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