Geological Chronicle
Located near the northern limb of the Moon, Carpenter presents a distinctly foreshortened silhouette from Earth-based telescopes, though its actual rim forms a nearly circular boundary measuring 59.06 kilometers across. Its southern ramparts abut the degraded terrain of Anaximander, with the satellite crater Anaximander B bordering its western rim and Anaximenes situated to the northeast. Geologically fresh compared with its battered surroundings, the crater retains sharp morphological features, including slumped sections and terrace development along its inner eastern wall.
The interior floor reveals an irregular expanse of low hills punctuated by an offset double central peak structure, featuring a smaller western peak and a larger ridge that trends south toward the inner wall. Spectroscopic surveys indicate that these central peaks consist of noritic anorthosite excavated from depths between 5.9 and 9.0 kilometers within the lunar crust. Infrared measurements have also identified exposures of pure crystalline plagioclase across the crater floor and along both the eastern and western walls.
Although historical maps placed Carpenter within the Copernican System due to an apparent ray pattern, researchers note that crossing rays from an adjacent smaller crater may have led to an early misclassification. The International Astronomical Union formally adopted the name Carpenter in 1935, honoring British astronomer James Carpenter and American astronomer Edwin Francis Carpenter.