Diophantus (crater)

Diophantus (crater)

240px Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates
Diameter	19 km
Depth	3.0 km
Colongitude	34° at sunrise
Eponym	Diophantus

File:Diophantus crater AS17-P-3118-3120.jpg

Oblique view of Diophantus from Apollo 17, at low sun angle, with the smaller Diophantus C at left.

File:AS15-M-2075.jpg

The craters Delisle (above) and Diophantus (below) from Apollo 15. Mons Delisle is to the left of Delisle, and Rima Diophantus lies between Delisle and Diophantus. Note also bright rays extending from the tiny crater Samir.

Diophantus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the southwestern part of the Mare Imbrium. It forms a pair with the larger crater Delisle to the north. Diophantus has a wide inner wall and a low central rise. To the north of Diophantus is the sinuous rille designated Rima Diophantus, named after the crater. There is a tiny craterlet near the exterior of the southwest wall.

Rima Diophantus

This cleft follows a generally east–west path across the Mare Imbrium. It is centered at selenographic coordinates 31.0° N, 32.0° W, and has a maximum diameter of 150 km. Several tiny craters near this rille have been assigned names by the IAU. These are listed in the table below.

Crater	Coordinates	Diameter	Name source
Isabel		1 km	Spanish feminine name
Louise		0.8 km	French feminine name
Samir		2 km	Arabic masculine name
Walter1		1 km	German masculine name

1	Not to be confused with the large crater Walther in the southern hemisphere which is misidentified as 'Walter' in some publications

The crater Samir has bright rays that extend for over 70 km.

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 Diophantus.

Diophantus	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
B	29.1° N	32.5° W	6 km
C	27.3° N	34.7° W	5 km
D	26.9° N	36.3° W	4 km

The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.

• Diophantus A — See Artsimovich.

External links

• LTO-39B3 Diophantus — L&PI topographic map of crater and vicinity.