Geological Chronicle
Located along the southeastern edge of Mare Serenitatis, Brontë is a small astronaut-named feature measuring 0.21 kilometers in diameter at latitude 20.172°N, longitude 30.6746°E. The feature lies within the Taurus-Littrow valley, a geological trough formed between 3.8 and 3.9 billion years ago when a large impact formed the Serenitatis basin and pushed surrounding rock outward and upward.
During the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt explored the valley floor, which consists of subfloor basalt covered by a 14-meter regolith layer. The International Astronomical Union formally approved the crew-designated name in 1973, recognizing the feature within the valley's surrounding massifs of feldspar-rich breccia.
Seismic studies suggest that the basalt beneath the valley floor is greater than 1,400 meters thick. Unconsolidated regolith across the valley contains ejecta from multiple impacts, including material associated with the Tycho impact event estimated between 70 and 95 million years ago.