Palitzsch 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 in the southeast 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 ...

, near the southeast rim of the crater Petavius. Just to the southwest of Palitzsch is

Hase The Hase () is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ems, but part of its flow goes to the Else, that is part of the Weser basin. Its source is in the Teutoburg Forest, south-east of Osnabrück, on the north slope ...

, while to the east-southeast is Legendre. The northeast rim of Palitzsch forms the southern end of

Vallis Palitzsch The Vallis Palitzsch is a geological structure of the surface of the Moon. The name of the valley was given in 1964 by the International Astronomical Union and comes from the adjacent crater, which in turn was named after the German astronomer Joha ...

, a lunar valley that follows the eastern rim of Petavius for a distance of about 110 kilometers. The crater rim is relatively low and inconspicuous, while the floor forms a depression in the surface that follows the contours of the neighboring valley.

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 Palitzsch. Due to its rays, Palitzsch B is mapped as part of the Copernican System.The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J.

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. Plate 11: Copernican System
online

References

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