Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Advice on using this book
- Contents
- The Moon – an introduction
- Atlas of lunar formations
- 1 Mare Smythii
- 2a Mare Crisium
- 2b Mare Crisium
- 3 Cleomedes
- 4 Endymion
- 5 Atlas/Hercules
- 6 Montes Taurus
- 7 Palus Somni
- 8a Mare Fecunditatis
- 8b Mare Fecunditatis
- 9 Langrenus/Petavius
- 10 Mare Australe
- 11 Vlacq
- 12 Vallis Rheita
- 13a Mare Nectaris
- 13b Mare Nectaris
- 14 Rupes Altai
- 15 Abulfeda
- 16 Theophilus
- 17 Sinus Asperitatis
- 18 Statio Tranquillitatis
- 19a Mare Tranquillitatis
- 19b Mare Tranquillitatis
- 20a Mare Serenitatis
- 20b Mare Serenitatis
- 21 Posidonius
- 22 Lacus Mortis
- 23 Aristoteles/Eudoxus
- 24 Montes Caucasus
- 25 Autolycus/Aristillus
- 26 Cassini
- 27 Montes Alpes
- 28 Plato
- 29 Montes Teneriffe
- 30 Archimedes
- 31a Montes Apenninus
- 31b Montes Apenninus
- 32 Mare Vaporum
- 33 Rima Ariadaeus
- 34 Rima Hyginus
- 35 Sinus Medii
- 36 Hipparchus
- 37a Ptolemaeus
- 37b Ptolemaeus
- 38 Rupes Recta
- 39 Regiomontanus
- 40 Maurolycus
- 41 South Pole
- 42 Clavius
- 43 Tycho
- 44 Schiller
- 45 Palus Epidemiarum
- 46 Pitatus
- 47 Mare Nubium
- 48 Fra Mauro
- 49 Mare Cognitum
- 50 Mare Insularum
- 51a Copernicus
- 51b Copernicus
- 52 Eratosthenes
- 53a Mare Imbrium
- 53b Mare Imbrium
- 54 Sinus Iridum
- 55 Gruithuisen
- 56 Mare Frigoris
- 57 North Pole
- 58 Aristarchus
- 59 Kepler
- 60 Seleucus
- 61 Reiner
- 62 Letronne/Hansteen
- 63 Gassendi
- 64 Mare Humorum
- 65 Schickard
- 66 Sirsalis
- 67 Grimaldi
- 68 Mare Orientale
- 69 Lunar Farside
- Glossary
- Index of lunar features
- Image credits
- Further reading and references
54 - Sinus Iridum
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2012
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Advice on using this book
- Contents
- The Moon – an introduction
- Atlas of lunar formations
- 1 Mare Smythii
- 2a Mare Crisium
- 2b Mare Crisium
- 3 Cleomedes
- 4 Endymion
- 5 Atlas/Hercules
- 6 Montes Taurus
- 7 Palus Somni
- 8a Mare Fecunditatis
- 8b Mare Fecunditatis
- 9 Langrenus/Petavius
- 10 Mare Australe
- 11 Vlacq
- 12 Vallis Rheita
- 13a Mare Nectaris
- 13b Mare Nectaris
- 14 Rupes Altai
- 15 Abulfeda
- 16 Theophilus
- 17 Sinus Asperitatis
- 18 Statio Tranquillitatis
- 19a Mare Tranquillitatis
- 19b Mare Tranquillitatis
- 20a Mare Serenitatis
- 20b Mare Serenitatis
- 21 Posidonius
- 22 Lacus Mortis
- 23 Aristoteles/Eudoxus
- 24 Montes Caucasus
- 25 Autolycus/Aristillus
- 26 Cassini
- 27 Montes Alpes
- 28 Plato
- 29 Montes Teneriffe
- 30 Archimedes
- 31a Montes Apenninus
- 31b Montes Apenninus
- 32 Mare Vaporum
- 33 Rima Ariadaeus
- 34 Rima Hyginus
- 35 Sinus Medii
- 36 Hipparchus
- 37a Ptolemaeus
- 37b Ptolemaeus
- 38 Rupes Recta
- 39 Regiomontanus
- 40 Maurolycus
- 41 South Pole
- 42 Clavius
- 43 Tycho
- 44 Schiller
- 45 Palus Epidemiarum
- 46 Pitatus
- 47 Mare Nubium
- 48 Fra Mauro
- 49 Mare Cognitum
- 50 Mare Insularum
- 51a Copernicus
- 51b Copernicus
- 52 Eratosthenes
- 53a Mare Imbrium
- 53b Mare Imbrium
- 54 Sinus Iridum
- 55 Gruithuisen
- 56 Mare Frigoris
- 57 North Pole
- 58 Aristarchus
- 59 Kepler
- 60 Seleucus
- 61 Reiner
- 62 Letronne/Hansteen
- 63 Gassendi
- 64 Mare Humorum
- 65 Schickard
- 66 Sirsalis
- 67 Grimaldi
- 68 Mare Orientale
- 69 Lunar Farside
- Glossary
- Index of lunar features
- Image credits
- Further reading and references
Summary
Sinus Iridum 45.0°N, 32.0°W
Sinus Iridum, the ‘Bay of Rainbows’, is the most striking landmark in the northwestern portion of Mare Imbrium. It is the remnant of a giant crater, bordered on the northwest by the Montes Jura (the Jura Mountains), which are undoubtedly a portion of the original crater wall. On the lunar timescale, Sinus Iridum was formed after the Imbrium impact, but before the various lava flows flooded the Imbrium Basin. Sinus Iridum is about 260 kilometres in diameter, and so may be classified one of the smaller impact basins.
The Jura Mountains end in two capes; in the southwest lies Promontorium Heraclides with a height of 1.7 km, and in the southeast lies Promontorium Laplace, which reaches a height of 2.6 km above the average level of the surrounding surface. At sunrise, Promontorium Laplace casts a triangular shadow, and in larger telescopes a lunar dome becomes visible to the west. Other, difficult to observe, domes line near Promontorium Heraclides. They are, however, only observable under extreme grazing illumination. The lava plain within Sinus Iridum is not broken by any large craters. Large telescopes do, however, reveal a series of craterlets and crater pits on the lava surface.
If the northwestern wall of Sinus Iridum is examined more closely, it will be realized that the height of the wall on the eastern side as far as Cape Laplace is approximately the same height, whereas on the west, towards Cape Heraclides it continuously lowers.
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- The Cambridge Photographic Moon Atlas , pp. 158 - 159Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012