Nicolai 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 in the southern hemisphere 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 ...
, in a region that is less disturbed by significant impacts than most of the
highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
. The nearest craters of note are
Spallanzani
Lazzaro Spallanzani (; 12 January 1729 – 11 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest (for which he was nicknamed Abbé Spallanzani), biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily functio ...
to the south, and the much larger
Maurolycus and
Barocius to the east. The crater is named after the 19th-century
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
astronomer
Friedrich Bernhard Gottfried Nicolai
Friedrich Bernhard Gottfried Nicolai (25 October 1793 – 4 June 1846) was a German astronomer.
Born in Braunschweig, Nicolai was educated at Göttingen. In 1812, he calculated the Euler–Mascheroni constant to 40 decimal places. In 1816, he joi ...
. It is 42 kilometers in diameter and reaches a depth of 1.8 kilometers.
The outer wall of this crater is worn, with a number of tiny craterlets lying along the rim. The most notable of these is a tiny crater located across the northern rim. The satellite crater Nicolai B is attached to the exterior of the southwest rim. The inner walls slope down relatively smoothly to the flat interior floor filled with lava. The only marking on the inner surface is a tiny craterlet in the northern part of the crater. Nicolai is from the
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 ...
period, which lasted from 3.92 billion to 3.85 billion years ago.
[''Autostar Suite Astronomer Edition''. CD-ROM. Meade, April 2006.]
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 Nicolai.
References
{{Commonscat
Impact craters on the Moon
Nectarian