Gilbert is a large lunar impact crater that lies near the eastern limb of the Moon. Due to its location this feature appears foreshortened when viewed from the Earth, limiting the amount of detail that can be observed. The crater lies to the northwest of a similar-sized walled plain called Kästner, to the west of the Mare Smythii.
Several satellite craters in the vicinity have since been given names by the IAU. Nearly attached to the north-northeastern rim of Gilbert are the craters Weierstrass (Gilbert N) and Van Vleck (Gilbert M), two somewhat similar formations. In the northeastern part of Gilbert's interior floor is the small, bowl-shaped Geissler (Gilbert D).
Gilbert is a somewhat degraded walled plain, with an outer rim that has been somewhat reshaped by nearby impacts. The southern rim has almost completely disintegrated, and forms a rolling surface that flows toward the south as an extended depression. The crater pair of Weierstrass and Van Vleck has formed an indented rim along the northeast face, while the northwest rim is overlain by Gilbert S. The interior floor is relatively level with some low ridges running down the center toward the southern end.
Having a highly eroded rim, estimating the depth of Gilbert is somewhat arbitrary, but topographic data obtained during the Apollo missions allows estimation of a depth of at least 1.7 km around most of the rim.LTO-81A1 Rankine, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) SeriesLTO-81A2 Gilbert, Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap (LTO) Series
This crater is named after American geologist Grove K. Gilbert (1843–1918) and English natural philosopher William Gilbert (c. 1544–1603). The crater's name was approved by the IAU in 1964.Gilbert, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)
Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Gilbert.
Gilbert LatitudeLongitudeDiameterJ4.3° S72.7° E38 kmK5.5° S73.2° E38 kmP0.9° S75.6° E18 kmS1.9° S75.6° E19 kmV1.5° S79.9° E15 kmW1.1° S78.9° E19 km
The following craters have been renamed by the IAU. Gilbert D — See Geissler. Gilbert M — See Van Vleck. Gilbert N — See Weierstrass. Gilbert U — See Avery.
References See p. 183.
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