Dionysius (crater)

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Dionysius is an impact crater on the Moon's front west of the Sea of ​​Tranquility, northwest of the craters Sabine and Ritter and south of Ariadaeus. The crater is little eroded and has a beam system of about 130 km extension to.

The crater was officially named by the IAU in 1935 after the Christian saints Dionysius the Areopagite.

The classification of Dionysius the Areopagite as sky observer is based on a passage in a letter of Pseudo- Dionysius the Areopagite to Polycarp of Smyrna, where reference is made to a solar eclipse, which Dionysius would have observed at the time held the crucifixion of Christ (which is astronomically impossible, because solar eclipses can only occur at new moon, the Passover but always takes place under a full moon ).