> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://jatan.space/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Gallery: Our Moon’s captivating craters - URL: https://jatan.space/gallery-of-lunar-craters/ - Published: 2022-04-29T13:03:13.000Z - Updated: 2024-02-24T10:35:40.000Z - Author: Jatan Mehta - Tags: Explore Our Moon hosts an incredible diversity of craters, many of which are well preserved since their formation over a billion years ago! Here’s a tour of some of the most intriguing lunar craters—from gigantic ones to literally micro and everything in between. This is the fourth blog post in a curated gallery series touring pretty sights on our Moon, following views of [marvelous mountains](https://jatan.space/gallery-of-moon-mountains/), [lovely lava channels](https://jatan.space/gallery-of-lunar-lava-channels/) and just some [weird yet wonderful features](https://jatan.space/gallery-of-weird-lunar-features/). **Note:* You can click on the images to learn about each feature.* [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fe3abe0a4-1603-48c1-b239-25c25223f1e3_1056x890-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/the-crowned-crater-of-schrodinger/) ****The 312 kilometers wide** [****Schrödinger crater**](https://jatan.space/the-crowned-crater-of-schrodinger/) **with its crown-shaped mountain ring.** [****Credit: NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)**](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schr%C3%B6dinger%5F%28LRO%29%5F500%5Fkm.png) **|** ***Also see: The huge, peak-ringed** [***Apollo crater**](https://jatan.space/peak-ringed-apollo-crater/) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2feeb0c4fa-bfe5-4f15-b3a9-70dadb9879b3_541x461-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/the-lava-flooded-crater-of-letronne/) ****The lava-flooded and half-buried** [****crater of Letronne**](https://jatan.space/the-lava-flooded-crater-of-letronne/)****, stretching 120 kilometers across.** [****Credit: Apollo 16**](http://apollo.sese.asu.edu/LIW/20090310.html) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fd18d63bb-d0cb-4e99-94e5-322114ed8ef6_2500x1600-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/glorious-aristarchus/) ****A spectacular closeup view of the 40-kilometer wide** [****Aristarchus crater**](https://jatan.space/glorious-aristarchus/) **and its arc-shaped central mountain.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/1022) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f6452fbfe-93cf-4b00-bafe-a3e9e0dec55c_999x825-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/y-shaped-mountains-in-king-crater/) ****The 77 kilometers wide** [****King crater**](https://jatan.space/y-shaped-mountains-in-king-crater/) **and its Y-shaped mountains on the Moon’s farside.** [****Credit: Apollo 16**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/32) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2ffebfe9ce-2f34-4b14-af34-1f24ef9e04ca_949x700-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/fresh-crater-like-hell/) ****The (geologically) fresh, 3.4-kilometer wide** [****Hell Q**](https://jatan.space/fresh-crater-like-hell/) **crater.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/1003) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f1f4be91d-0c8d-4136-a61a-4bc416319648_1330x676-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/outstanding-orientale-multi-ring-basin-on-the-moon/) ****The striking 930 kilometers wide multi-ring impact basin of** [****Orientale**](https://jatan.space/outstanding-orientale-multi-ring-basin-on-the-moon/)****. Credit:** [****LROC Quickmap**](https://quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/?extent=-180,-90,180,90&camera=-1025950.121073092,-4242892.829213939,-372279.1137270995,6.283185307179586,-1.5707963267948966,0&proj=22&layers=NrBsFYBoAZIRnpEoAsjZwLrc0A) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f63a1045f-9d29-4677-8b62-3bf517d491a7_1058x832-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/tycho-crater-mountain/) ****The 86 kilometers wide** [****Tycho crater**](https://jatan.space/tycho-crater-mountain/) **on the Moon and its central peak.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tycho%5FLRO.png) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f1c754b5c-9763-431d-88c9-2d97d84abc42_1727x972-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/spectacularly-irregular-larmor-q-crater/) ****The wildly irregular 20-kilometer wide** [****Larmor Q crater**](https://jatan.space/spectacularly-irregular-larmor-q-crater/)****.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/773) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f8930dba1-fd4a-4f6f-9911-4fe4224cd88d_1250x1000-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/copernicus-crater-moon-mountains/) ****The 93 kilometers wide** [****Copernicus crater**](https://jatan.space/copernicus-crater-moon-mountains/) **on the Moon and its two central peaks.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Copernicus%5F%28LRO%29%5F2.png) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f9fd586a1-5c67-4494-a739-ff12ceaa3703_1100x800-jpeg.jpg)](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/1007) ****The 13 kilometers wide** [****Hawke crater**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/1007)****, formed on top of the rim of another crater.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/1007) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fb209b06a-b6ba-41e8-8929-891d438a8e60_960x961-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/the-dynamic-terrain-of-aitken-crater/) ****The geologically rich, 135-kilometer wide** [****Aitken crater**](https://jatan.space/the-dynamic-terrain-of-aitken-crater/)****.** [****Credit: Apollo 17**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aitken%5Fcrater%5FAS17-M-0341.jpg) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f9c8a8519-7205-4481-ac05-cf62d6d7159b_1000x750-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/ghost-craters-on-the-moon/) ****A 650-700 meters wide** [****ghost crater**](https://jatan.space/ghost-craters-on-the-moon/) **with visible ejecta.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/560) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f48a0c78b-58f6-46e1-bd42-acd21fafb00c_1600x1400-png.jpg)](https://jatan.space/lava-filled-gassendi-crater/) ****The incredibly geologically diverse 110-kilometer wide** [****Gassendi crater**](https://jatan.space/lava-filled-gassendi-crater/)****.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/258) **|** ***Also see: The polygonal-shaped** [***Krieger crater**](https://jatan.space/crater-on-crater-and-a-meandering-rille-krieger/) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2ffe8cebbe-0316-456d-ba3d-70442f300450_1026x768-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/change-4-landing-site-farside-von-karman-crater/) ****The 180 kilometers wide** [****Von Kármán crater**](https://jatan.space/change-4-landing-site-farside-von-karman-crater/) **on the Moon’s farside—home to the** [****Chang’e 4**](https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/change-4) **spacecraft and rover—which formed on top of an even larger crater. Images:** [****NASA LRO**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Von%5FKarman%5FLROC.jpg)****, Graphic: Jatan Mehta** [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2faf4f72bf-e243-4855-b3ca-f2c220d7bead_1500x1300-jpeg.jpg)](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/627) ****A beautiful impact crater 2 kilometers across,** [****deformed**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/627) **by a tectonic ridge.** [****Credits: NASA LRO**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/627) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f35b71bf1-f386-4f15-abdc-3565467d83f9_1000x850-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/a-chain-of-craters-catena-davy/) [****Catena Davy**](https://jatan.space/a-chain-of-craters-catena-davy/)****, a chain of 23 craters spanning over 50 kilometers, formed so because the Moon's tidal forces fragmented the incoming comet/asteroid.** [****Credit: Apollo 12**](https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/apollo/frame/?AS12-51-7485) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fd34e1cd8-a4d0-4d27-a55f-bcba990b4edb_1199x1041-jpeg.jpg)](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/269) ****The** [****Posidonius crater**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/269) **and its long lava channel.** [****Credit: NASA LRO**](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/269) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f6fc98077-bd13-40c9-8236-4b163e6ec135_836x627-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/the-tiniest-of-impact-craters/) ****A** [****truly tiny crater**](https://jatan.space/the-tiniest-of-impact-craters/)****, little more than 10 microns wide, on a Moon rock brought to Earth by Apollo 12\.** [****Credit: NASA**](https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2016/pdf/1465.pdf) [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fa6bd5da2-b709-4693-bad0-3de097b2684b_2233x1597-jpeg.jpg)](https://jatan.space/exploring-moon-mountains/) [****Changing morphology**](https://jatan.space/exploring-moon-mountains/) **of craters on the Moon with increasing sizes. Image credits: NASA LRO, Graphic: Jatan Mehta** --- Hope you enjoyed these curated views of some of the most captivating craters on our Moon. If you’d like to browse more lunar craters, the NASA LRO outreach team has [a fantastic blog](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts?page=1&query=craters).