La Pérouse A Impact Melt

Solidified impact melt flows outside the crater La Pérouse A. Another crop from LROC Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) frame M152390311R, spacecraft orbit 7591, February 15, 2011; 51 cm resolution from 46.56 km,  image width 705 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Sarah Braden
LROC News System

Today's Featured Image shows impact melt flows near the outer rim of the crater La Pérouse A (4.08 km in diameter, 9.268°S, 74.705°E). Distinct channels and flow lobes are visible within this area. Small channels and levees are visible along the edges of some of the individual flows. As the melt moved farther away from the crater rim (the crater rim is toward the top of the image), the melt cooled. At the end of each flow lies a deposit of impact melt material. More impact melt may have been emplaced around the rim of the crater, but the landslide of highland material could have destroyed it.

The crater La Pérouse A is a very young satellite crater of the larger (80.4 km diameter) La Pérouse crater group, named after the French explorer Jean Francois de Galoup, known as Comte De La Pérouse. The Comte De La Pérouse sent his expedition journals and charts back to Europe shortly before he and his expedition disappeared. If he hadn't sent this information back, he probably wouldn't have a lunar crater named after him, since later on the shipwrecks of his two boats were found in Oceania.

For context, the impact melt field in the LROC Featured Image on the southern flank of La Pérouse A is shown in the full width of LROC NAC frame M152390311R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

The footprint of LROC NAC frame M152390311R rendered on the lunar framework of Google Earth as a demonstration of the bright and extensive albedo of La Pérouse A making the crater quite visible out of proportion with its relatively small size [Google/NASA/JAXA/GSFC/USGS/Arizona State University].

WAC context image (75 km across) of La Pérouse A and its high reflectance ejecta blanket, which indicates a relatively young age [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Explore the entire NAC frame, HERE.

Related Images:
River of Rock
Lichtenberg B Flow
Rootless impact melt flows
Lopsided La Pérouse A