Tucker is a small lunar impact crater in the southern part of the Mare Smythii. It is located along the eastern limb of the Moon, and from the Earth it is seen nearly from the edge. It lies between the slightly larger crater Lebesgue to the northeast and the flooded Kao to the south-southwest.

Tucker
Apollo 15 mapping camera image
Coordinates5°37′S 88°13′E / 5.62°S 88.21°E / -5.62; 88.21
Diameter6.78 km
Depth1.6 km[1]
Colongitude272° at sunrise
EponymRichard H. Tucker
Oblique view from Apollo 17

This is a small, circular crater formation that is cup-shaped and has a higher albedo than the surrounding dark lunar mare. It is one of the brighter features in the surroundings, which is indicative of a relatively youthful feature that has not undergone significant space weathering. The crater is not significantly eroded or overlain by craters of significance.

The crater's name was approved by the IAU in 1979.[2]

References

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  1. ^ LTO-81B3 Widmannstatten, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series
  2. ^ Tucker, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
  • Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
  • Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  • Bussey, B.; Spudis, P. (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81528-4.
  • Cocks, Elijah E.; Cocks, Josiah C. (1995). Who's Who on the Moon: A Biographical Dictionary of Lunar Nomenclature. Tudor Publishers. ISBN 978-0-936389-27-1.
  • McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  • 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. S2CID 122125855.
  • Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-304-35469-6.
  • Price, Fred W. (1988). The Moon Observer's Handbook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33500-3.
  • Rükl, Antonín (1990). Atlas of the Moon. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 978-0-913135-17-4.
  • Webb, Rev. T. W. (1962). Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes (6th revised ed.). Dover. ISBN 978-0-486-20917-3.
  • Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
  • Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.