Cauchy (crater)

Template:Short description Template:Infobox Lunar crater

File:Aldo Ferruggia - Proclus crater.jpg

The crater area (on the bottom left) in selenochromatic format

Cauchy is a small lunar impact crater on the eastern Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy.<ref>Template:Gpn</ref> It is circular and symmetric, with a small interior floor at the midpoint of the sloping inner walls. Due to the high albedo of this bowl-shaped formation, it is particularly prominent at full Moon.

Cauchy lies between the Rupes Cauchy and the Rimae Cauchy, as described below.

South of Rupes Cauchy are two lunar domes designated Omega (ω) Cauchy and Tau (τ) Cauchy. They lie to the south and southwest of Cauchy respectively. Each lunar dome has a small depression at its crest, which is likely to be a volcanic vent rather than an impact crater. The vent at the top of Omega Cauchy is called Donna.

Rupes Cauchy

File:Cauchy - LROC - WAC.JPG

Selenographic features around Cauchy as well as its satellite craters and the small Donna Crater to the south

To the south of Cauchy is a 120-km fault in the surface named the Rupes Cauchy, which forms a series of cliffs or escarpments. This wall roughly parallels the Rima Cauchy to the north.

Rupes Cauchy was named Fossa Casalis in a 1974 map, but this was not approved by the IAU.<ref name=LTO61A3/> The term Rupes was used in favor of Fossa for the names of lunar scarps.

Rima Cauchy

To the north of Cauchy is the rille named Rima Cauchy, a 210-kilometer-long graben.

Rima Cauchy was named Fossa Cauchy in a 1974 map, but term Rima was used in favor of Fossa for the names of lunar rilles.<ref name=LTO61A3/>

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 Cauchy.

File:AS08-13-2344 (21329966194).jpg

Cauchy is in the upper right quadrant between Rupes Cauchy and Rimae Cauchy in this Apollo 8 image. Omega and Tau Cauchy are visible below the Rupes Cauchy.

Cauchy	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	12.1° N	37.9° E	8 km
B	9.8° N	35.8° E	6 km
C	8.2° N	38.9° E	4 km
D	10.0° N	40.3° E	9 km
E	8.9° N	38.6° E	4 km
F	9.6° N	36.8° E	4 km
M	7.6° N	35.1° E	5 km
U	8.8° N	42.3° E	5 km
V	9.0° N	41.5° E	5 km
W	10.6° N	41.6° E	4 km

Cauchy A is shown as Hussein on some lunar maps<ref name=LTO61A3>LTO-61A3 Cauchy, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series, Publisher: Defense Mapping Agency, Scale: 1:250,000.</ref><ref name=LTO61A2>LTO-61A2 Lucian, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series, Publisher: Defense Mapping Agency, Scale: 1:250,000.</ref> based on Apollo 15 photographs, but the name was not approved by the IAU, which officially designated the crater name in 2006.<ref name="gazetteer">Cauchy A, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)</ref>

File:Cauchy A crater AS17-P-2991.jpg

Cauchy A crater