page_title: Lunar craters
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Lunar craters / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: English: The lunar crater Eratosthenes (center left) as imaged from Earth by amateur astronomer Joel Frohlich using an 8 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
context_page_description: Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, almost all of which were formed by impacts.
context_section_description: Because of the Moon's lack of  water, atmosphere, and tectonic plates, there is little erosion, and craters are found that exceed two billion years in age.  The age of large craters is determined by the number of smaller craters contained within it, older craters generally accumulating more small, contained craters.
  The smallest craters found have been microscopic in size, found in rocks returned to Earth from the Moon.  The largest crater called such is about 290 kilometres (181 mi) across in diameter, located near the lunar South Pole. However, it is believed that many of the lunar maria were formed by giant impacts, with the resulting depression filled by upwelling lava.
  Craters typically will have some or all of the following features:
  a surrounding area with materials splashed out of the ground when the crater was formed; this is typically lighter in shade than older materials due to exposure to solar radiation for a lesser time
  raised rim, consisting of materials ejected but landing very close by
  crater wall, the downward-sloping portion of the crater
  crater floor, a more or less smooth, flat area, which as it ages accumulates small craters of its own
  central peak, found only in some craters with a diameter exceeding 26 kilometres (16 mi); this is generally a splash effect caused by the kinetic energy of the impacting object being turned to heat and melting some lunar material.
caption: The lunar crater Eratosthenes (center left) as imaged from Earth by amateur astronomer Joel Frohlich using an 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
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