C. Herschel is a small

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

that lies on the western part of

Mare Imbrium Mare Imbrium (Latin ''imbrium'', the "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains") is a vast lunar mare, lava plain within the Imbrium Basin on the Moon and is one of the larger craters in the Solar System. The Imbrium Basin formed from the collision ...

. It is named after German astronomer

Caroline Herschel Caroline Lucretia Herschel ( , ; 16 March 1750 – 9 January 1848) was a German astronomer, whose most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel–Rigollet, which b ...

. It is a circular, bowl-shaped formation that has not undergone significant erosion. The interior floor has the same low

albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...

as the surrounding

lunar mare The lunar maria ( ; mare ) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by lava flowing into ancient impact basins. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich composition, and hence appear dark to ...

. To the south-southwest is the similar crater Heis. C. Herschel lies on a

wrinkle ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features ...

of the

named the

Dorsum Heim Dorsum Heim is a wrinkle ridge at in Mare Imbrium on the Moon. It is 148 km long and was named after Swiss geologist Albert Heim Albert Heim (12 April 184931 August 1937) was a Swiss geologist, noted for his three-volume ''Geologie der Schwei ...

Satellite craters

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

References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Craters on the Moon: C-F Impact craters on the Moon Mare Imbrium