Sommerfeld is a large

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 ...

that is located in the far northern

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

s 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 lies 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 ...

, and can only be 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 ...

. To the south of Sommerfeld is Rowland, a crater about the same size as Sommerfeld. Southeast of Sommerfeld is the huge walled plain Birkhoff. This crater belongs to a class of lunar features sometimes termed a walled plain – that is, it consists of a relatively flat interior surrounded by a ring mountain. The outer rim is only moderately eroded and it retains some traces of a

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...

structure, albeit softened and rounded. Several small craterlets lie along the rim edge and inner wall along the south and southeast. A merged pair of small craters is attached to the southern outer rim. The inner wall is slightly wider along the eastern side, perhaps from deposits of ejecta from nearby impacts. The interior floor of Sommerfeld is a nearly level plain that has most likely smoothed out through deposits of materials. There are some small craters on the eastern edge of the interior. There is no central peak complex, and only a small hill lies at the midpoint.

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 Sommerfeld.

References

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