Fraunhofer is a
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 just to the south-southwest of the walled plain
Furnerius, in the southeastern part of 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 ...
. This crater appears foreshortened when viewed 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 ...
, and is actually nearly circular.
This crater has undergone some erosion from lesser impacts, particularly along the northern part of the rim. The satellite crater Fraunhofer V lies along the northwestern edge and part of the inner wall. A pair of smaller craters also lie along the northern rim. The remainder of the rim is relatively intact, with small craterlets along parts of the inner wall. The interior floor is nearly level and is marked by several small craterlets. The southern two-thirds of the floor has a slightly lower
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 ...
than the northern part.
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 Fraunhofer.
References
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Impact craters on the Moon
{{Craters on the Moon: C-F