Pauli 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 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. It lies about halfway between the lunar equator and southern pole, across the southern rim of the larger walled plain

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational corporation, multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, ...

. This crater has a well-defined outer rim that is only mildly worn by impact erosion. A small crater lies on the inner side along the south, and another on the opposite face of the crater to the north. There is some slight terracing along the southeast inner wall, but the remainder displays more of a radially grooved appearance. The inner wall is narrower along the northern side where it overlies Roche. The interior floor has been flooded with

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

, leaving a low-

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 ...

surface that is darker than the surrounding

terrain Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

. In this respect it is similar to the crater

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

located about four crater diameters to the northeast. There is a low ridge structure near the midpoint, and the remains of a

ghost crater A palimpsest , in planetary astronomy, is an ancient crater that has been degraded over time. They may also be referred to as "ghost craters", "degraded craters", "buried craters", or "pathological craters". Palimpsests have been identified on M ...

in the southeastern part of the floor.

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 Pauli.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend impact craters on the Moon