Goclenius (crater)
Goclenius is a lunar impact crater that is located near the west edge of Mare Fecunditatis. It lies to the southeast of the lava-flooded crater Gutenberg, and north of Magelhaens. To the northwest is a parallel rille system that follow a course toward the northwest, running for a length of up to 240 kilometers. This feature is named the Rimae Goclenius.
Goclenius (bottom) and Magelhaens (center), from Apollo 8 | |
| Coordinates | 10.0°S 45.0°E |
|---|---|
| Diameter | 54 × 72 km |
| Depth | 1.5 km |
| Colongitude | 315° at sunrise |
| Eponym | Rudolf Goclenius, Jr. |
The rim of this crater is worn, distorted and irregular, having a somewhat egg-like outline. The crater floor has been covered in lava, and a rille cuts across the floor towards the northwest, in the same direction as the other members of the Rimae Goclenius. A similar rille lies across the floor of Gutenberg, and it is likely that these features were all formed at the same time, after the original craters were created.
There is a low central rise located to the northwest of the crater's midpoint.
The crater is named for Rudolf Goclenius, Jr. (1572–1621), German physician and professor of physics, medicine and mathematics.