Nearch is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southeastern part of the Moon, to the southeast of the crater Hommel. North of Nearch is Vlacq, and to the northeast lies Rosenberger. The crater is 76 kilometers in diameter and 2.9 kilometers deep. It is from the Pre-Nectarian period, 4.55 to 3.92 billion years ago.
The outer rim of Nearch has been worn by smaller impacts, and is overlain by a few more significant craters along the eastern rim. The most notable of these is Nearch A, a 43-kilometer-diameter crater that intrudes into the southeastern rim of Nearch. Small craters have also disrupted the rim to the north and west. The remainder of the rim is relatively intact, and retains its generally circular form.Moore, Patrick (2001). On the Moon. Sterling Publishing Co.. .
The inner walls of the crater slope down to a relatively level interior floor. This bottom floor is nearly featureless except for a few tiny craterlets scattered across the surface. In the southeast, the ejecta from Nearch A has produced a slightly more irregular region.
Nearch is named after Nearchus, a 4th-century BC Greek explorer.Autostar Suite Astronomer Edition. CD-ROM. Meade, April 2006.
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 Nearch.
Nearch LatitudeLongitudeDiameterA60.1° S40.1° E43 kmB60.9° S35.8° E43 kmC62.2° S35.8° E41 kmD57.0° S38.0° E10 kmE61.4° S33.9° E11 kmF62.9° S37.9° E8 kmG63.3° S39.8° E5 kmH57.6° S40.6° E9 kmJ57.6° S37.4° E7 kmK57.9° S35.3° E13 kmL58.4° S35.6° E18 kmM58.4° S35.0° E7 km
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