Pitatus (crater)


Pitatus is an ancient lunar impact crater located at the southern edge of Mare Nubium. It was named after Italian astronomer Pietro Pitati. Joined to the northwest rim is the crater Hesiodus, and the two are joined by a narrow cleft. To the south lie the attached Wurzelbauer and Gauricus.

Description

The complex wall of Pitatus is heavily worn, and has been encroached by lava flows. The rim is lowest to the north, where the lava almost joins the Mare Nubium. Near the middle is a low central peak that is offset to the northwest of center. This peak only rises to a height of 0.5 km.
Pitatus is a floor-fractured crater, meaning it was flooded from the interior by magma intrusion through cracks and openings. The flooded crater floor contains low hills in the east and a system of slender clefts named the Rimae Pitatus. The larger and more spectacular of these rilles follow the edges of the inner walls, especially in the northern and eastern halves. The floor also contains the faint traces of deposited ray markings.
Just to the north of Pitatus in the neighboring mare is the half-buried rim of Pitatus S, covered in the past when Mare Nubium was formed.

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 Pitatus.
PitatusLatitudeLongitudeDiameter
A31.4° S13.2° W7 km
B32.3° S10.4° W16 km
C28.4° S12.4° W12 km
D30.9° S12.0° W10 km
E28.9° S10.1° W6 km
G29.8° S11.4° W18 km
H30.5° S15.7° W15 km
J26.5° S13.5° W5 km
K30.4° S8.9° W6 km
L29.1° S8.6° W5 km
M32.1° S11.0° W14 km
N31.2° S10.9° W21 km
P31.0° S10.9° W16 km
Q30.5° S10.8° W12 km
R31.1° S14.6° W7 km
S27.3° S14.0° W12 km
T29.4° S11.2° W5 km
V28.9° S11.7° W5 km
W27.9° S11.2° W13 km
X28.4° S11.6° W19 km
Z28.3° S10.3° W25 km