15 Jun 2015

Elisabetta "Betty" Pierazzo, a leading expert in the modeling of impact crater formation, has been honored with an impact crater named for her on the Moon.
Pierazzo was an expert in the area of impact modeling throughout the solar system, as well as an expert on the astrobiological and environmental effects of impacts on Earth and Mars. At the time of her death in 2011, Betty worked as a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz.
The 9-kilometer diameter crater is located on the far side of the Moon. Bright rays of ejected material extend more than 450 kilometers from the crater rim, suggesting that the crater was formed by a relatively recent impact event. Furthermore, new high-resolution images obtained from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) suggest that rocks melted by the impact event were thrown out as part of the rocky ejecta around the crater, and launched tens of kilometers from its rim. The newly appointed "Pierazzo Crater" provides an important data point toward testing the various theories for how impact melt is emplaced.
Pierazzo was passionate about education, teaching and public outreach, developing planetary-related classroom materials, professional development workshops for teachers, and teaching college-level classes herself. Betty believed in the strength of broad collaborations in all of her research and education activities. The Planetary Science Institute Pierazzo International Student Travel Award was started in 2014 to support and encourage graduate students to build international collaborations and relationships in planetary science. Visit http://www.psi.edu/pista to learn more about the Pierazzo International Student Travel Award.

Image: (Left) A Clementine image of the Moon, centered at 90°W. shows the newly named Pierazzo Crater outlined in black. ( Middle) A Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Wide Angle Camera mosaic of the crater. (Right) A close-up of an impact melt flow observed in the discontinuous ejecta blanket.