Geological Chronicle
Davy spans 33.94 kilometers across along the eastern margins of Mare Nubium, northwest of the prominent crater Alphonsus. Its low perimeter forms an uneven, somewhat polygonal outline, particularly across the western half. Slumped wall debris covers much of the crater floor, which displays subdued fractures without a central peak, broken only by low central mounds.
The formation superimposes the basaltic, lava-flooded remnant known as Davy Y to the east. At the southeastern rim, the bowl-shaped satellite crater Davy A overlaps the perimeter, marked by an indentation along its northern edge. The ancient rim of Davy Y extends outward as a low ridge connecting to Davy's northern outer wall.
Across the floor of Davy Y runs Catena Davy, a 50-kilometer crater chain comprising 23 small impacts arcing east-northeast toward Ptolemaeus. Lunar scientists attribute the line of craters to a tidally disrupted impactor whose pieces struck almost simultaneously, an arrangement that drew interest as a candidate landing target for the early Apollo missions.
Johann H. von Mädler introduced the name in the nineteenth century in honor of British physicist Humphry Davy. The International Astronomical Union formally adopted the designation in 1935.