Albategnius

Forums Moon A question for Lunar observers Albategnius

#582457
Bill Leatherbarrow
Participant

My guess would be that the central peak crater is just a perfectly positioned impact crater – the result of a ‘lucky strike’. Despite what Patrick Moore used to say, the ‘bomb’ does fall into the’bucket’ from time to time! I can see nothing to suggest the feature is of volcanic origin. The central peak complex is the result of ‘rebound’ following the impact that created Albategnius – it is not a volcanic cone with a summit caldera.

Sometimes, as in Gassendi’s central peak, what look like summit craters turn out to be just dimples between multiple peaks, but this one does indeed look like a proper crater.

Incidentally, the central peak complex appears to be off-centre, suggesting either that Albategnius might have been the result of an oblique impact or that the central peak was once a peak ring, the lower parts of which have been submerged beneath whatever has infilled Albategnius.