Boyle is a
lunar impact crater
An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...
that is located in the
southern hemisphere on the rugged
far side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that always faces away from Earth, opposite to the near side, because of synchronous rotation in the Moon's orbit. Compared to the near side, the far side's terrain is rugged, with a multitu ...
. It is adjacent to the larger crater
Hess Hess or Heß may refer to:
* Hess (surname), also ''Heß'' in German, people with the surname Hess
* Hess, Oklahoma, a community in the United States
* Hess Educational Organization, the largest private provider of English instruction in the Rep ...
to the southeast, and lies about midway between the craters
Alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
to the north-northeast and
Abbe to the south-southwest.
The outer rim of Boyle is nearly circular, and displays some slumping around the interior. Most of the rim is sharp-edged and displays little appearance of wear due to subsequent impacts. The southern rim, however, is overlain by a wide, irregular groove in the surface that follows a course from east to west along the rim. There is also an overlapping formation of tiny craterlets overlapping the narrow strip of terrain that joins Boyle to Hess.
The interior of the crater is relatively flat, with a long, low central ridge at the midpoint. This rise is aligned in a linear formation from southwest to northeast. There is a tiny craterlet near the eastern rim, but the interior is otherwise undistinguished.
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 Boyle.
References
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External links
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Impact craters on the Moon
{{Craters on the Moon: A–B