Fracastorius is the lava-flooded remnant of an ancient lunar impact crater located at the southern edge of Mare Nectaris. T. W. Webb describes this as "a partially destroyed ring." To the northwest of this formation lies the crater Beaumont, while to the northeast is Rosse.
The northern wall of this crater is missing, with only mounds appearing in the lunar mare to mark the outline. The lava that formed Mare Nectaris also invaded this crater, so the structure now forms a bay-like extension. The remainder of the rim is heavily worn and covered in lesser impact craters, leaving little of the original rim intact. The maximum elevation of the rim is 2.4 km. The most prominent of these craters is Fractastorius D, which overlies a portion of the western rim.
Fracastorius has no central peak, but a long, slender rille runs across the middle of the floor in a generally east–west direction.
The crater commemorates the Italian scholar, astronomer and poet Girolamo Fracastoro, "Fracastorius" (1478‑1553).
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 Fracastorius.
FracastoriusLatitudeLongitudeDiameterA24.4° S36.5° E18 kmB22.5° S37.2° E27 kmC24.6° S34.6° E16 kmD21.8° S30.9° E28 kmE20.2° S31.0° E13 kmG21.2° S38.3° E16 kmH20.7° S30.6° E21 kmJ20.8° S37.4° E12 kmK25.4° S34.7° E17 kmL20.6° S33.2° E5 kmM21.7° S32.9° E4 kmN23.2° S34.0° E10 kmP25.5° S33.3° E8 kmQ25.1° S33.2° E8 kmR23.8° S33.7° E5 kmS19.0° S31.9° E5 kmT19.8° S37.4° E14 kmW22.6° S35.7° E7 kmX23.0° S31.1° E7 kmY23.0° S32.0° E12 kmZ24.8° S33.6° E9 km
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