Mendel is a large

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 lies on the

far side ''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surrealis ...

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 ...

. It is located in the southern fringe of the huge skirt of ejecta that surrounds the

Mare Orientale Mare Orientale (Latin ''orientāle'', the "eastern sea") is a lunar mare. It is located on the western border of the near side and far side of the Moon, and is difficult to see from an Earthbound perspective. Images from spacecraft have reveale ...

impact basin. To the south-southwest of Mendel is Lippmann, an even larger crater. This is a worn and eroded crater formation, with several small craters along the rim. The younger Mendel J is attached to the southeastern edge and shares part of the rim. The small Mendel B lies across the rim to the northeast. A pair of small craters also cross the western rim. Parts of the inner wall of Mendel display worn,

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

-like features that have become rounded. The interior floor of Mendel displays deposits and depressions that may have been formed by ejecta from the Mare Orientale formation. This crater lies on the western margin of the

Mendel-Rydberg Basin The Mendel-Ryberg Basin is a Nectarian impact basin on the southwestern limb of the moon. It is named after the crater Mendel on the west margin and the smaller crater Rydberg north of the center of the basin. The basin is due south of the la ...

, a 630 km wide impact basin of

Nectarian The Nectarian Period of the lunar geologic timescale runs from 3920 million years ago to 3850 million years ago. It is the period during which the Nectaris Basin and other major basins were formed by large impact events. Ejecta from Nectaris for ...

age. The basin is named after Mendel and the smaller Rydberg to the east of Mendel.

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 Mendel.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Impact craters on the Moon