Proclus is a young lunar impact crater located to the west of the Mare Crisium on the east shore of the Palus Somni. Its diameter is 27 km and it was named after 5th century Greek mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Proclus.
It lies to the south of the prominent, terraced crater Macrobius, and west-northwest of the lava-flooded Yerkes.
Description
The rim of Proclus is distinctly polygonal in shape, having the shape of a pentagon, and does not rise very far above the surrounding terrain. It has a high albedo, being second only to Aristarchus in brightness. The interior wall displays some slumping, and the floor is uneven with a few small rises from slump blocks. The infrared spectrum of pure crystalline plagioclase has been identified on the north wall.
The crater has a notable ray system that extends for a distance of over 600 kilometers. The rays display an asymmetry of form, with the most prominent being rays to the northwest, north-northeast, and northeast. There is an arc with no ejecta to the southwest. These features suggest an impact at a low angle. The rays indicate the crater is part of the Copernican System.Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report (NASA SP-289), Chapter 25, Part J, Preliminary geologic map of the region around the candidate Proclus Apollo landing site by Don E. Wilhelms, 1972
A candidate landing site for the Apollo program was located about 100 km north-northeast of Proclus.Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report (NASA SP-289), Chapter 25, Part K, Geologic sketch map of the candidate Proclus Apollo landing site by Baerbel Koesters Lucchitta, 1972 The site was rejected in favor of the geologically diverse Taurus-Littrow valley for the Apollo 17 mission.
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 Proclus.
Proclus LatitudeLongitudeDiameterA13.4° N42.3° E15 kmC12.9° N43.6° E10 kmD17.5° N41.0° E13 kmE16.6° N40.9° E12 kmG12.7° N42.7° E33 kmJ17.1° N44.0° E6 kmK16.5° N46.2° E16 kmL17.1° N46.4° E9 kmM16.4° N45.2° E8 kmP15.3° N48.7° E30 kmR15.8° N45.5° E28 kmS15.7° N47.9° E18 kmT15.4° N46.7° E21 kmU15.2° N48.0° E13 kmV14.8° N48.3° E19 kmW17.5° N46.2° E7 kmX17.7° N45.1° E6 kmY17.5° N44.9° E8 kmZ17.9° N44.7° E6 km
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.
Proclus F — See Crile (crater).
References Reprint:
Sources
External links
LTO-43C3 Proclus, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series LTO-61B2 Glaisher, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series Oblique closeup of Proclus crater from Apollo 17 (Figure 147 of Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit (online version) (NASA SP-362), 1978) Apollo 17 image AS17-150-23047 using the 70 mm Hasselblad.