Leavitt is a

crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

on the far side 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 ...

. It is a moderately eroded crater, but only a few minor craterlets lie along the edge and interior. Most of these features lie within the northern half of the crater, but the largest lies along the southern inner wall. The crater has a low central ridge near the midpoint. There is a patch of higher-

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 ...

material along the eastern rim, centered on a tiny craterlet. Nearly attached to the northern outer rim is the satellite crater Leavitt Z, a formation that appears similar to Leavitt but somewhat more worn. Less than two crater diameters to the northwest of Leavitt is the huge walled plain

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. To the northeast is the crater Buffon. The crater is named after

Henrietta Swan Leavitt Henrietta Swan Leavitt (; July 4, 1868 – December 12, 1921) was an American astronomer. Her discovery of how to effectively measure vast distances to remote galaxies led to a shift in the understanding of the scale and nature of the universe. ...

, a Harvard astronomer. The crater was named to honor deaf people, like Leavitt, who have made substantial contributions to science. Leavitt was a major figure in the history of astronomy, providing the key to determining the size of the cosmos, and changing the face of modern astronomy. She propounded her theory while working as a $10.50-a-week assistant at the

Harvard College Observatory The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United St ...

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 Leavitt.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Impact craters on the Moon