Franck (crater)

Franck
Apollo 15 image
Coordinates22°36′N 35°30′E / 22.6°N 35.5°E / 22.6; 35.5
Diameter12 km
Depth2.5 km
Colongitude325° at sunrise
EponymJames Franck

Franck is a small lunar impact crater that lies near the north end of Sinus Amoris, a bay on the northern part of Mare Tranquillitatis. Its diameter is 12 km. It was named after German physicist and Nobel laureate James Franck.[1] The crater lies just to the southeast of Brewster, and farther to the south of Römer. Franck was previously designated Römer K.

This is a circular, bowl-shaped crater with a sharp rim that has not been significantly eroded. The interior walls slope down to the tiny floor at the midpoint. Just to the north of Franck is a joined pair of smaller craters, and the three nearly form a merged cluster of impacts.

References

  1. ^ "Franck (crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.