Apollo 17 Mapping camera image
| |
| Coordinates | 14°34′N 54°43′E / 14.57°N 54.72°E / 14.57; 54.72 |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 23 km |
| Depth | 2.4 km |
| Colongitude | 306° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Jean-Félix Picard |
Picard is a lunar impact crater that lies in Mare Crisium. The crater is named for 17th century French astronomer and geodesist Jean Picard.[1] It is the biggest non-flooded crater of this mare, being slightly larger than Peirce to the north-northwest. To the west is the almost completely flooded crater Yerkes. To east of Picard is the tiny Curtis.
Picard is a crater from the Eratosthenian period, which lasted from 3.2 to 1.1 billion years ago.[2] Inside Picard is a series of terraces that seismologists have attributed to a collapse of the crater floor. It has a cluster of low hills at the bottom.[3]
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Picard.[4]
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU.
