Stöfler is a large

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

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 ...

located in the crater-dotted southern highlands. It was named after 15th-16th century German astronomer and mathematician

Johannes Stöffler Johannes Stöffler (also ''Stöfler, Stoffler, Stoeffler''; 10 December 1452 – 16 February 1531) was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, priest, maker of astronomical instruments and professor at the University of Tübingen. Life Jo ...

. It sits to the west of the crater Maurolycus. The distorted crater Fernelius is attached to the northern rim, and

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

and Nasireddin lie to the west.

Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

has overlain and damaged the western rim, and this crater in turn has been overlain by several smaller craters. The rim of Stöfler is worn and eroded, but the outline remains relatively intact except where overlain by Faraday. The smaller Stöfler K intrudes into the northwestern rim, and Stöfler F forms an indentation into the base of the southwestern interior wall. The crater floor has been filled in with deposits, either from

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 ...

flows or ejecta from basin impacts, and is relatively flat and featureless in the northwest half. If there was a central peak, it has now become buried. The floor has 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 ...

, making the crater relatively easy to identify as it is one of the few craters in this region of the lunar surface that has a dark floor. Traces of bright ray material from

Tycho Tycho is a masculine given name, a latinization of Greek Τύχων, from the name of Tyche (), the Greek goddess of fortune or luck. The Russian form of the name is '' Tikhon'' (Тихон). People Given name * Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), Dan ...

, located to the west, can be seen across 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 Stöfler.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stofler (crater) Impact craters on the Moon