Omar Khayyam 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 that is located just beyond the northwestern limb 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 ...

, 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 ...

from the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. It lies in a region of the surface that is sometimes brought into view of the Earth due to

libration In lunar astronomy, libration is the wagging or wavering of the Moon perceived by Earth-bound observers and caused by changes in their perspective. It permits an observer to see slightly different hemispheres of the surface at different tim ...

, and under favorable lighting it can be viewed from the edge. However under such circumstances not much detail can be seen, and the crater is best viewed from

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

. This feature is located at the western edge of the larger walled plain Poczobutt, and the northwestern rim of Omar Khayyam is overlain by the crater Zsigmondy. The east-southeastern part of the interior floor of Omar Khayyam is overlain by a smaller and younger crater. The remainder of the interior floor is split in half by a ridge attached to the western outer rim of this crater, giving Omar Khayyam the appearance of a formation composed of multiple merged impacts. The outer rim of Omar Khayyam is heavily eroded, and has a wide gap to the southeast. A small crater overlies the western rim, and multiple small craterlets mark the sides and parts of the interior. The floor to the southwest is somewhat smoother than elsewhere. This crater was named in honor of the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

mathematician and astronomer Omar Khayyam.

References

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