Lucretius is an

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 ...

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 located to the southeast of the huge walled plain Hertzsprung, within the outer skirt of ejecta that surrounds that impact feature. To the southwest of Lucretius lies Fridman. This crater is a relatively fresh impact, as the formation is well-defined and the rim and interior remain nearly unscathed from impact erosion. The rim has an outward bulge along the western side, so that it is slightly wider in longitude than latitude. The inner walls display some terrace structures, and the interior floor is somewhat uneven in places. To the northwest of Lucretius is a chain of craters called the Catena Lucretius. These extend for a distance of 271 km across the southern floor of Hertzsprung, and include a number of craters ranging up to 15–20 km in diameter.

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 Lucretius.

References

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