Goclenius (crater)

Goclenius
Goclenius (bottom) and Magelhaens (center), from Apollo 8
Coordinates10°00′S 45°00′E / 10.0°S 45.0°E / -10.0; 45.0
Diameter54 × 72 km
Depth1.5 km
Colongitude315° at sunrise
EponymRudolf Goclenius, Jr.
Apollo 16 image
Oblique view from Apollo 11

Goclenius is a lunar impact crater that is located near the west edge of Mare Fecunditatis. It lies to the southeast of the lava-flooded crater Gutenberg, and north of Magelhaens. To the northwest is a parallel rille system that follow a course toward the northwest, running for a length of up to 240 kilometers. This feature is named the Rimae Goclenius.

The rim of this crater is worn, distorted and irregular, having a somewhat egg-like outline. The crater floor has been covered in lava, and a rille cuts across the floor towards the northwest, in the same direction as the other members of the Rimae Goclenius. A similar rille lies across the floor of Gutenberg, and it is likely that these features were all formed at the same time, after the original craters were created.

There is a low central rise located to the northwest of the crater's midpoint.

The crater is named for Rudolf Goclenius, Jr. (1572–1621), German physician and professor of physics, medicine and mathematics.