Maraldi (lunar crater)

For the crater on Mars, see Maraldi (Martian crater).
Maraldi
Apollo 17 Mapping Camera image
Coordinates19°22′N 34°48′E / 19.36°N 34.80°E / 19.36; 34.80
Diameter39.62 km (24.62 mi)
Depth1.3 km
Colongitude325° at sunrise
EponymGiovanni Domenico Maraldi and Giacomo F. Maraldi
The crater area (top right) in selenochromatic Image (Si). More infos here : https://www.gawh.it/main/selenocromatica
Context image showning Gardner (lower left) and Maraldi (center) from Apollo 17. NASA photo.

Maraldi is a worn, eroded crater on the western edge of the Sinus Amoris, in the northeast part of the Moon. To the west-southwest is the crater Vitruvius, and to the northwest lies the worn Littrow crater. Just to the northeast of the crater is the dome-like Mons Maraldi rise.

The crater is named after two Italian-born French astronomers: Giovanni Domenico Maraldi and Giacomo F. Maraldi.[1]

Maraldi has a very worn outer wall that is deeply incised and has the appearance of a circular range of peaks rather than a crater rim. The interior has been flooded with basaltic lava, leaving a flat surface with a low albedo. There is a low ridge just to the northwest of the midpoint, and several tiny craters mark the floor surface.

Maraldi is a crater of Nectarian age.[2]

  1. ^ "Maraldi (lunar crater)". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. ^ The geologic history of the Moon. USGS Professional Paper 1348. By Don E. Wilhelms, John F. McCauley, and Newell J. Trask. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington: 1987. Table 9-4.