Blancanus is a lunar impact crater located in the rugged southern region of the Moon, to the southwest of the walled plain Clavius. To the northwest lies the comparably sized crater Scheiner, and south-southwest of Blancanus is the worn Klaproth.

Blancanus
Coordinates63°36′S 21°30′W / 63.6°S 21.5°W / -63.6; -21.5
Diameter105 km
Depth3.7 km
Colongitude21° at sunrise
EponymGiuseppe Biancani

The outer rim of Blancanus is considerably less worn than that of Scheiner crater to the northwest, and the edge is still fairly well defined and it has a terraced structure on the interior. The floor is relatively flat with several low rises at the midpoint. There is a cluster of small craterlets in the southern part of the crater floor.

Crater Blancanus is named after the Jesuit astronomer and natural philosopher, Giuseppe Biancani (1566–1624).

Satellite craters

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By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Blancanus.

Blancanus Latitude Longitude Diameter
A 64.4° S 21.6° W 6 km
C 66.5° S 28.0° W 46 km
D 63.3° S 16.5° W 24 km
E 66.6° S 21.5° W 37 km
F 65.1° S 27.4° W 9 km
G 63.3° S 25.3° W 9 km
H 65.5° S 23.5° W 7 km
K 60.6° S 23.3° W 11 km
N 63.4° S 25.8° W 11 km
V 64.0° S 20.9° W 7 km
W 60.9° S 20.2° W 9 km

References

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  • Andersson, L. E.; Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
  • Blue, Jennifer (July 25, 2007). "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
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  • McDowell, Jonathan (July 15, 2007). "Lunar Nomenclature". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  • Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186. Bibcode:1971SSRv...12..136M. doi:10.1007/BF00171763. S2CID 122125855.
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  • Whitaker, Ewen A. (1999). Mapping and Naming the Moon. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62248-6.
  • Wlasuk, Peter T. (2000). Observing the Moon. Springer. ISBN 978-1-85233-193-1.