Geological Chronicle
Al-Biruni is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the eastern limb. Lunar librations sometimes bring this portion of the surface into sight, though because of its location the crater is viewed from the side. The feature lies south of the crater Joliot and northeast of Goddard, well within the putative Orientale antipodal ejecta deposit.
The crater dates from the Early Imbrian epoch at around 3.8±0.1 ga ago. Its rim forms a somewhat irregular circle with a slight outward bulge in the northeast wall and a somewhat wider inner wall to the west. Late Imbrian mare lava material covers the interior floor, which is relatively planar with a few tiny smaller craters such as Al-Biruni C near the northeast wall. A topographic profile shows a slight incline with an angle of about 2.5° across the floor, which displays high abundances of FeO and TiO2.
The crater is named after the Persian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer Al-Biruni. Its designation was formally adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1970.