Pierazzo is a small lunar

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 crater ...

on the far side 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 ...

. It is located within the north-northwestern section of the immense 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 reve ...

impact basin. To the south is the

Montes Cordillera Montes Cordillera is a mountain range on the Moon. This feature forms the outer wall of peaks that surround the Mare Orientale impact basin, the inner ring being formed by the Montes Rook. The center of the range is located at selenographic coor ...

mountain ring. To the west is the crater

Lents The Lents neighborhood in the Southeast section of Portland, Oregon is bordered by SE Powell Blvd. on the north, the Clackamas County line or City of Portland line on the south (whichever is farther south), SE 82nd Ave. to the west, and roughly S ...

. This crater produced a broad, wispy

ray system A ray system comprises radial streaks of fine ''ejecta'' thrown out during the formation of an impact crater, looking somewhat like many thin spokes coming from the hub of a wheel. The rays may extend for lengths up to several times the diameter ...

that extends for more than 100 km in all directions. The ejecta blanket contains multiple lobate impact melt flows, that extend to over 40 km from the centre of the 9.3 km diameter crater, and that appear dark in contrast to the surrounding material. The crater was named by the IAU in 2015, after Italian planetary scientist Elisabetta Pierazzo. Pierazzo was herself a specialist in impact cratering and the associated production of impact melt.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{cite book , first = Peter T. , last = Wlasuk , date = 2000 , title = Observing the Moon , publisher = Springer , isbn = 978-1-85233-193-1 Impact craters on the Moon