Morphology of Lunar Impact Craters with Diameters of 15-20 km
Dewi Kamila Nurhasanah (a*), Endang Soegiartini (b)

Astronomy Study Program, Faculty Of Mathematics And Natural Sciences, Bandung Institute of Technology
Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia

Abstract

There are two main geological regions on the Moon, the Mare and the Highlands, which have different geological properties. Mare is a low lying area composed of basalt rocks, while Highland is a high lying area composed of anorthosite rocks.
This study examines lunar impact craters. Lunar impact craters are formed by the collision of small celestial bodies with the lunar surface. The craters that form are classified into two main types, i.e, simple craters, which are craters without a central peak, and complex craters, which are craters with a central peak. The crater morphology studied involves craters measuring 15 to 20 km in diameter, a size range that provides variation between simple and complex crater types depending on surface conditions, located in the Mare and Highland regions.
The data used in this study is a DEM from the Moon LRO LOLA SELENE Kaguya TC DEM Merge 59m, which integrates topographic data from LRO and SELENE (Kaguya). The analysis was conducted using QGIS and Python. The craters selected for this study are those that are not elliptical, have unbroken rims, and visible rims, or are classified as type A craters. These craters are located between \(60^\circ\text{N}\) and \(60^\circ\text{S}\) latitude. Based on these criteria, a total of 76 craters were identified, consisting of 68 simple craters and 8 complex craters. Overall, complex craters in the Highlands are deeper than simple craters in the Highlands and all craters in the Mare region.

Keywords: Impact craters- Crater morphology- Crater morphometry

Topic: Planetary Science