Dewar 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 lies on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

's far side. Less than one crater diameter to the south-southwest is the crater Stratton. Vening Meinesz is a little over one crater diameter to the northwest. The slightly worn rim of this crater is roughly circular, with a small outward protrusion along the southern edge. The interior floor is marked by several small impacts along the eastern side. The crater was named after British chemist

James Dewar Sir James Dewar (20 September 1842 – 27 March 1923) was a British chemist and physicist. He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studied a ...

by the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

in 1970. Dewar lies on the south side of an anomalously low

albedo Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body that refl ...

area of terrain (dark patch) on the far side of the Moon. The low-albedo area is also a geochemical anomaly, and is high in iron oxide and

titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or CI 77891. It is a white solid that is insolub ...

. It has been interpreted as a ''cryptomare''.Lawrence, S. J., B. R. Hawke, J. J. Gillis-Davis, G. J. Taylor, D. J. Lawrence, J. T. Cahill, J. J. Hagerty, P. G. Lucey, G. A. Smith, and K. Keil (2008), Composition and origin of the Dewar geochemical anomaly, J. Geophys. Res., 113, E02001, doi:10.1029/2007JE002904.

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 Dewar.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{Craters on the Moon: C-F Impact craters on the Moon