List of maria on the Moon

This is a list of maria (large, dark, basaltic plains) on the Moon. It includes other basaltic plains, including the one oceanus as well as features known by the names lacus, palus and sinus. The modern system of lunar nomenclature was introduced in 1651 by Giovanni Battista Riccioli.^[1] Riccioli's map of the Moon was drawn by Francesco Maria Grimaldi, who has a crater named after him.

Maria and Oceanus

There was also a region on the Lunar farside that was briefly misidentified as a mare and named Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire). It is no longer recognized. Other former maria include:

Mare Parvum^[3] ("Small Sea"), immediately to the east of Inghirami
Mare Incognitum ("Unknown Sea")
Mare Novum^[3] ("New Sea"), northeast of Plutarch
Mare Struve ("Struve's Sea"), near Messala

Lacus

A related set of features are the Lunar lacus /ˈleɪkəs/ (singular also lacus, Latin for "lake"),^[a] which are smaller basaltic plains of similar origin:

Sinus and Paludes

A related set of features are the sinus /ˈsaɪnəs/ (singular sinus, Latin for "bay")^[b] and paludes /pəˈluːdiːz/ (singular palus /ˈpeɪləs/, Latin palūs, palūdēs "marsh"):

Some sources also list a Palus Nebularum (Latin palūs nebulārum /ˈpeɪləs nɛbjʊˈlɛərəm/ "Marsh of Mists") at 38.0° N, 1.0° E. However the designation for this feature has not been officially recognized by the IAU.

Notes

^ In Latin, the singular is lacus ['lakʊs] and the plural is lacūs ['lakuːs], but they are spelled and pronounced the same in English.
^ As with 'lacus', Latin sg. sinus and plural sinūs are spelled and pronounced the same in English.

References

^ Moore, Patrick (1983). The Guinness book of astronomy facts and feats. Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 25. ISBN 0-85112-258-2.
^ "Moon Mare/Maria". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
^ a b "Astronomica Langrenus" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2006-10-12. Retrieved 2006-12-05.

L. E. Andersson and Ewen A. Whitaker, NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature, NASA RP-1097, 1982, no ISBN.
Ben Bussey and Paul Spudis, The Clementine Atlas of the Moon, Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-521-81528-2.
Antonín Rükl, Atlas of the Moon, Kalmbach Books, 1990, ISBN 0-913135-17-8.
Ewen A. Whitaker, Mapping and Naming the Moon, Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-62248-4.