Murakami is an

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 ...

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 ...

. To the south-southeast is the crater Mariotte. Murakami partly overlaps the western rim of the satellite crater Mariotte Z. To the southeast of Murakami, and to the northeast of Mariotte, is the smaller crater Das. This is a roughly

circular Circular may refer to: * The shape of a circle * ''Circular'' (album), a 2006 album by Spanish singer Vega * Circular letter (disambiguation) ** Flyer (pamphlet), a form of advertisement * Circular reasoning, a type of logical fallacy * Circular ...

, bowl-shaped formation. There is some erosion along the rim, including smaller craters overlapping the rim edge to the south and northeast. There is a white patch of higher-

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 ...

material just to the west of Murakami. This feature was previously designated Mariotte Y before being assigned this name 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 ...

. It is named after Japanese astronomer

Harutaro Murakami (1872–1947) was a Japanese physicist and astronomer. He is the father of the astronomer Tadayoshi Murakami (1907–1985). The crater Murakami on the Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satel ...

(1872–1947).

References

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