Pilâtre is a 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 ...

near the southwestern 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 ...

. It is located just to the north-northwest of the much larger walled plain Hausen. The satellite crater Pingré S is attached to the eastern rim, with Pingré itself located farther to the northeast. Just to the west-southwest is Chappe, a formation of similar dimension to Pilâtre. Due to its location, this crater is viewed almost from the edge 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 ...

, limiting the amount of detail that can be observed. This part of the surface is also subject to libration, and the crater can sometimes be completely hidden from view. The rim of this crater has been heavily worn through impact erosion, leaving an irregular rise that is marked by a number of minor impacts. There is a slight outward bulge in the western part of the rim, and the inner wall is wider in that part of the crater. The interior floor is somewhat irregular, and contains a small craterlet near the southeastern inner wall. This crater was previously designated Hausen B before being assigned a 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 ...

in 1991. Pilâtre lies to the south 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 age.

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilatre Impact craters on the Moon