 Mare Moscoviense | |
| Coordinates | 27°18′N147°54′E / 27.3°N 147.9°E /27.3; 147.9 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 276 km[1] |
| Eponym | Sea of Muscovy |
Mare Moscoviense (Latin for 'Sea ofMoscovy';[1]/ˌmɒskəviˈɛnsi/MOSK-ə-vee-EN-see) is alunar mare that sits in the Moscoviense basin. It is one of the very few maria on thefar side of the Moon.
LikeMare Marginis, this mare appears to be fairly thin. However, it is clearly centered within a large impact basin. It is also much lower than either the outer basin floor or the farside highlands.
The great depth of this mare beneath the nearby highlands probably explains why mare units are so rare on the lunar farside. Very few basins on the farside were deep enough to allow mare volcanism. Thus, while large impact basins are found on both the nearside and farside, large maria are mostly found on the nearside. Mare lavas apparently could reach the surface more often and more easily there. The basin material is of theNectarianepoch,[2] while the mare material is of theUpper Imbrian epoch. Following theSELENE mission, scientists proposed that volcanism in Mare Moscoviense was active for at least ~1.5 Ga following the formation of the Moscoviense basin,[3] but the formation of the mare as the result of a meteorite cluster impact, rather than from volcanism, has also been proposed based on the energy required to melt the lava in Mare Moscoviense.[4]
At the center of the basin (or the southwest portion of the mare) is amascon, or gravitational high. The mascon was first identified by Doppler tracking of theLunar Prospector spacecraft.[5]
The name Mare Moscoviense was approved by theIAU in 1961.[6] It isLatin for "sea ofMuscovy".[1]
Lunar naming conventions specify thatlunar maria are named in Latin after 'weather and other abstract concepts', with a few exceptions.[7] Mare Moscoviense was discovered in 1959, when the first images of the far side were returned by the Soviet spacecraftLuna 3. The name was proposed by the Soviet Union, but was only accepted by theInternational Astronomical Union whenAudouin Dollfus argued that Moscow is a state of mind.[8]
The craterTitov is in the northeastern region of the mare, andTereshkova lies along the northern edge. The floor-fractured craterKomarov lies on the southeast edge of the mare. TheKorolev basin is to the southeast of the mare, and theFreundlich-Sharonov Basin is to the east.Leonov (crater), named for cosmonautAlexei Leonov, lies just to the south of Mare Moscoviense.[9][10]
