Rydberg is a
lunar impact crater
An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...
that is located on the
far side of the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...
, just past the southwest limb. It lies due south of the
Mare Orientale
Mare Orientale (Latin ''orientāle'', the "eastern sea") is a lunar mare. It is located on the western border of the near side and far side of the Moon, and is difficult to see from an Earthbound perspective. Images from spacecraft have reve ...
, in the outer skirt of ejecta that surrounds the Orientale impact feature. Just to the southeast is the crater
Guthnick.
This is a little-eroded crater formation with a relatively sharp edge. The inner walls do not have much
terracing, although slumped piles of
talus lie along the base. At the midpoint of the interior is a central ridge, with a low spur that runs halfway toward the southern inner wall.
This crater lies near the center of the
Mendel-Rydberg Basin, a 630 km wide impact basin of
Nectarian
The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 3920 million years ago to 3850 million years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris form ...
age.
This feature was named after the Swedish physicist
Johannes Rydberg.
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Impact craters on the Moon