Fleming is a large lunar

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 is located on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

's far side, and cannot be seen from the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. It lies about a crater diameter to the east-northeast of

Hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

, and to the northwest of Lobachevskiy. The low rim of this formation is heavily eroded and overlaid by multiple smaller craters. The most notable of these is Fleming along the southern rim, while another, only slightly smaller crater cuts across the lower eastern rim. The interior floor is also marked by a number of small impacts and a few ghost-crater rims. The crater was named after

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

and

Williamina Fleming Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming (15 May 1857 – 21 May 1911) was a pioneering Scottish astronomer, who made significant contributions to the field despite facing gender biases. She was a single mother hired by the director of the Harvard Co ...

. Prior to naming in 1970 by the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

, this crater was known as ''Crater 203''. Fleming is one of the largest craters of

Nectarian The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale was from 3.920 billion years ago to 3.850 billion years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris for ...

age.The geologic history of the Moon

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 9-4.

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 Fleming.

References

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External links

Fleming at The Moon Wiki
Impact craters on the Moon {{Craters on the Moon: C-F