Geological Chronicle
Fracastorius is the lava-flooded remnant of an ancient impact crater at the southern edge of Mare Nectaris. Beaumont lies to the northwest and Rosse to the northeast.
The northern wall is gone; mounds in the mare mark its outline. Lava that formed Mare Nectaris also invaded the crater, leaving a bay-like extension. The surviving rim is heavily worn and covered in lesser impact craters, with little of the original edge intact. The most prominent crater is Fractastorius D, overlying part of the western rim; the rim reaches a maximum elevation of 2.4 km.
Fracastorius has no central peak. A long, slender rille runs across the middle of the floor in a generally east-to-west direction.
The crater commemorates Italian scholar, astronomer and poet Girolamo Fracastoro.