Saussure 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 crater ...
. It is located in the crater-riddled terrain 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 ...
's near side. Just to the north and nearly attached to the rim is the larger crater
Orontius. About a half crater diameter due west is the slightly larger crater
Pictet. Just to the east is a curving ridge in the surface, possibly the remains of a crater that has been almost completely overlaid by Saussure.
The outer rim of Saussure is worn but relatively intact, with only the southern edge being somewhat disrupted. A small impact lies across the northeastern rim and a pair of craterlets along the western edge. The inner walls are relatively featureless, and slope down to the generally level interior floor. This bottom surface is marked only by a few tiny craters.
It was named after 18th century
Genevan
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
geologist
Horace-Bénédict de Saussure.
He was the professor, and later colleague and friend of
Marc-Auguste Pictet (eponym of nearby Pictet crater).
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 Saussure.
References
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{{Commonscat
Impact craters on the Moon