Wexler 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 lies across the south-southeast limb 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 ...

. In this location not much detail about the formation can be discerned from the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, and it must be viewed from

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

to see most of the structure. It lies about a hundred kilometers northwards of the larger crater Hale, and south-southeast of Petrov. The rim of this crater retains much of its original structure, although the features have become softened and worn in comparison to the younger Hale. The rim has a

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

al appearance along most of the perimeter, and traces of

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

s can still be seen along sections of the inner wall. There is a small crater across the northwest rim, but otherwise the formation is not significantly marked by impacts. The interior floor is relatively flat and level, with a central peak near the midpoint. There is the ghostly remnant of a crater to the northeast of the middle peak. Within a half crater diameter to the north and east is a wide, valley-like rift in the surface. The narrow end of this cut is located to the east of Wexler, and from there it follows a nearly straight, widening course to the northeast, before opening wide towards the northwest to the north of Wexler.

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 Wexler.

References

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