Pierazzo is a small
lunarimpact crater on the
far side of the
Moon. It is located within the north-northwestern section of the immense skirt of ejecta that surrounds the
Mare Orientale impact basin. To the south is the
Montes Cordillera mountain ring. To the west is the crater
Lents.
This crater produced a broad, wispy
ray system that extends for more than 100 km in all directions. The ejecta blanket contains multiple lobate impact melt flows, that extend to over 40 km from the centre of the 9.3 km diameter crater, and that appear dark in contrast to the surrounding material.[2]
The crater was named by the IAU in 2015, after Italian planetary scientist
Elisabetta Pierazzo.[1] Pierazzo was herself a specialist in impact cratering and the associated production of impact melt.[2]
^
abMcEwan, Alfred (13 February 2018).
"Luminous Pierazzo Crater". Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. Arizona State University. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
Andersson, L. E.;
Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186.
Bibcode:
1971SSRv...12..136M.
doi:
10.1007/BF00171763.
S2CID122125855.