Fontenelle is a

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

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 craters ...

that is located along the northern edge of

Mare Frigoris Mare Frigoris (Latin ''frīgōris'', the "Sea of Cold") is a lunar mare in the far north of the Moon. It is located in the outer rings of the Procellarum basin, just north of Mare Imbrium, and stretches east to north of Mare Serenitatis. It is ju ...

, in the northern part of 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 ...

. To the northeast is the remnant of the crater

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Due to its location, this crater appears oval in shape when observed from the

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because of foreshortening. The rim of this crater is generally circular, but the edge is irregular and in some locations has a notched appearance. This is particularly true along the southwest and the eastern edges. The rim projects above the surface of the Mare Frigoris, and a

wrinkle ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features cr ...

runs several crater diameters to the southeast from the edge. The western rim is attached to rough terrain to the west and northwest. The interior of Fontenelle has a wrinkled appearance along the northern rim. There is a low, wide central hill at the midpoint, and some rough ground to the west of this rise. Only a few tiny craterlets mark the surface of the floor. To the south of Fontenelle on the lunar mare is a tiny crater that is surrounded by a blanket of high

albedo Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of sunlight, 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 ...

material. This crater displays a resemblance to

Linné Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

Mare Serenitatis Mare Serenitatis (Latin ''serēnitātis'', the "Sea of Serenity") is a lunar mare located to the east of Mare Imbrium on the Moon. Its diameter is . Geology Mare Serenitatis is located within the Serenitatis basin, which is of the Nectarian ep ...

. This feature lies about 15 kilometers north-northwest of Fontenelle G, and lacks a designation. To the east of this crater is an unusual geometric configuration in the surface with an angular shape. This came to be known as "Mädler's Square", after the lunar selenographer Johann Mädler. It is roughly square in shape, but appears lozenge-shaped due to foreshortening. This feature was noted in many early books concerning the Moon.

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 Fontenelle.

References

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