Firmicus (crater) in the context of "Lunar mare"

Apollonius is a lunar impact crater located near the eastern limb of the Moon. It lies in the region of uplands to the west of Mare Undarum and northeast of the Sinus Successus on the Mare Fecunditatis. It was named after Greek mathematician Apollonius of Perga. It is southwest of the crater Firmicus, and north of Condon.

The outer rim of Apollonius is somewhat worn and is overlain by a pair of small craters (including Apollonius E) across the western wall. The nearly flat interior floor has a low albedo and has been covered by lava. It lacks a central peak or notable small craters across the bottom.

Mare Undarum /ʌnˈdɛərəm/ (Latin undārum, the "sea of waves") is a shallow, irregular lunar mare located just north of Mare Spumans on the lunar near side, between the crater Firmicus and the eastern limb. It lies within a trough between the third and fourth raised rings formed by the impact that created the Mare Crisium. The selenographic coordinates of this mare are 7.5° N, 68.7° E. It has a maximum diameter of 245 km.

There are five known lunar domes within the mare. The surrounding basin material is of the Nectarian epoch, with the mare basalt being of the Upper Imbrian epoch. The crater Dubyago can be seen on the southern edge of the mare. On the northeastern edge of the mare is the crater Condorcet P.

Dubyago is a lunar impact crater that lies in the eastern limb of the Moon. It was named after Russian astronomers Dmitry Dubyago and Alexander Dubyago. It appears significantly foreshortened when viewed from the Earth. It lies along the southern shore of the Mare Undarum, to the southeast of the crater Firmicus.

This crater has a somewhat worn outer rim which dips down to a low point along the northern rim, and has its maximum altitude along the eastern side. The most notable aspect of this crater, however, is the dark hue of the interior floor which matches the albedo of the lunar mare to the northwest. This darker shading makes the crater stand out somewhat from its surroundings.

van Albada is a lunar impact crater that is attached to the south-southeastern rim of Auzout. It lies southeast of Mare Crisium, and north-northeast of the larger crater Firmicus. Directly to the east is Krogh.

While the perimeter of van Albada is generally circular, there is a slight outward bulge in the rim to the northwest, and a smaller crater lies across the eastern rim. The inner wall is slightly larger to the north than elsewhere, most likely because it abuts the outer rampart of Auzout. The interior floor is darker in hue than the surrounding terrain, with an albedo that matches the lunar mare to the northwest.

Lacus Perseverantiae (Latin persevērantiae, "Perseverance") is a small lunar mare extending westward from the northwestern exterior of the crater Firmicus, with smaller extensions to the northeast and northwest at the eastern terminus. Its name is Latin for Lake of Perseverance. The selenographic coordinates are 8.0° N, 62.0° E, and it has a length of 70 km, but a maximum width of less than 15 km.

The name of the lacus was adopted by the IAU in 1979.

Julius Firmicus Maternus was a Roman Latin writer and astrologer, who received a pagan classical education that made him conversant with Greek; he lived in the reign of Constantine I (306 to 337 AD) and his successors. His triple career made him a public advocate, an astrologer and finally a Christian apologist.The explicit, or end-tag, of the sole surviving manuscript of his De errore profanarum religionum ("On the error of profane religions") gives his name as Iulius Firmicus Maternus V C, identifying him as a vir clarissimus and a member of the senatorial class. He was also author of the most extensive surviving text of Roman astrology, Matheseos libri octo ("Eight books of astrology") written around 334–337. Manuscripts of this work identify him as "the younger" (iunior) or "the Sicilian" (Siculus). The lunar crater Firmicus was named in his honour.

The Matheseos was dedicated to the governor of Campania, Lollianus Mavortius, whose knowledge of the subject inspired Firmicus, and whose encouragement supported him during the composition of this handbook. It is among the last extensive handbooks of a "scientific" astrology that circulated in the West before the appearance of Arabic texts in the 12th century. Augustine of Hippo, drawn to astrology in his youth in the mid-fourth century, fulminated against the study's impieties, in part based on the astrologers' view that the planets were divinities, but also on rational grounds, taking, for instance, the divergent careers of twins. The Neoplatonist astrological work was first printed by Aldus Manutius in 1499, and has often been reprinted.