The week of March 23-29 takes us from Day 5 to Day 11. This week we will highlight the moon crater Aristoteles, visible on Wednesday night close to the terminator.
Aristoteles: [NE/D11; L=17°E] Close to the terminator this evening there is an eye-catching pair of moon craters, Aristoteles and Eudoxus. Aristoteles is a complex moon crater with terraces, but in place of a central mountain it has a couple of small off-center peaks that are poking through the lava plain on its floor. The substantial ejecta blanket to the north of Aristoteles clearly shows radial structure, and if you catch it in the early morning sunrise, it will look like many points of light peeking through the shadows.
Aristoteles adjoins the moon crater Mitchell to its immediate east. The pair violates the standard rule that smaller, younger moon craters are superimposed on top of larger, older moon craters. Can you tell that the younger (and larger) Aristoteles is intruding onto Mitchell (which is older and smaller)?
ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN SPACE
On Thursday, Jupiter is 4° south of the Moon.
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It is highly recommended that you get a copy of Sky and Telescope’s Field Map of the Moon, the very finest Moon map available for use at the telescope. It is available for $10.95 at www.skyandtelescope.com and on Amazon. All features mentioned in this blog will be keyed to the grid on the Field Map and will look like this: Plato: [NW/D9]
Credits:
Courtesy of Gray Photography of Corpus Christi, Texas
Lunar photos: NASA / USGS / BMDO / LROC / ASU / DLR / LOLA / Moon Globe. Used by permission
- Aristoteles Adjoins the Moon Crater Mitchell - April 6, 2026
- East of Lacus Mortis on the Moon: Hercules and Atlas - March 30, 2026
- Aristoteles – Complex Moon Crater with Terraces - March 23, 2026