| Feature on | The Moon | | Feature type | Mare (Lunar sea) | | Quadrangles | Primarly LQ-21 Langrenus, but extending north into LQ-13 and west into LQ-20 | | Lunar coordinates | 6° N - 22° S, 41 - 63° E | | Dimensions | Diameter 840 km | | Bounding features | Gutenberg, Langrenus, Mare Spumans, Taruntius | | Interior features | Goclenius, McClure, Messier, Webb |
A lunar mare that lies southward of the Sea of Tranquility and the Sea of Crises near the Moon's eastern limb. The Sea of Fertility, or Mare Fecunditatis, is one of the first to appear as the Moon is waxing, and its name reflects the (of course unfounded) ancient belief that such a time would see good weather on Earth. To the east lies a wide field of craters including the prominent Langrenus.
The most striking features within Mare Fecunditatis itself are the craters named Messier and Messier A, the result of an object striking the Moon at a narrow angle, leaving a double crater and prominent pair of parallel rays reaching back westward to the edge of the sea that mark the line of impact of the object.
|
|
