Mare Serenitatis, "The Sea of Serenity" on the Moon // Paul Margolies
Click below to read about some of the craters and "seas" in this image and who they're named after!
Central to the image is the Mare Serenitatis, Latin for the "Sea of Serenity." The Soviet mission Luna 21 landed near here in 1973 and the American mission Apollo 17 landed here in 1972. At the top "shore" is Mons Argaeus, named after Mount Argaeus, a mountain in Türkiye. To the left is Lacus Somniorum, Latin for the "Lake of Dreams."
Several craters surround the Sea. In no particular order, they are:
Bessel crater is named after German astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784-1846), the first person to determine the distance to another star, namely 61 Cygni.
Menelaus crater is named after Greek mathematician Menelaus of Alexandria (c. 70-140 CE), who dealt with the geometry of straight lines on spheres, known as geodesics.
Plinius crater is named for Roman author Pliny the Elder (c. 23-79 CE). He wrote a thirty-seven volume encyclopedia of most of human knowledge of the time.
Dawes crater is named after English astronomer William Dawes (1799-1868) who made extensive measurements of double stars and drawings of the Martian surface.
Vitruvius crater is named for the Roman engineer Vitruvius (c. 80-15 BC) who wrote the textbook on architectural theory.
Fabbroni crater is named after the Italian naturalist Giovanni Fabbroni (1752-1822) who helped establish the natural history museum in Florence and introduced the metric system to Italy.
Littrow crater is named for the Austrian astronomer Joseph Johann von Littrow (1781-1840). He was the director of the Vienna Observatory and established Europe's easternmost astronomical observatory in Kazan, Russia.
Le Monnier crater is named after the French astronomer Pierre Charles Le Monnier (1715-1799) who made numerous observations of Jupiter and Saturn, and at least 12 observations of Uranus before it was recognized as a planet.
Chacornac crater is named for the French astronomer Jean Chacornac (1823-1873) who discovered six asteroids and a comet.
Posidonius crater is named for the Greek astronomer Posidonius (c. 135-51 BC) who traveled all around the Mediterranean and calculated the size and distances of the Moon and the Sun.
Daniell crater is named after the English chemist John Frederic Daniell (1790-1845) who invented a new element of the electric battery.
Luther crater is named for the German astronomer Karl Theodor Robert Luther (1822-1900) who discovered 24 asteroids.
Eudoxus crater is named for the Greek astronomer Eudoxus of Cnidus (c. 390-340 BC) who was one of the most important mathematicians of his day and invented his own planetary model.
