Geological Chronicle
Hausen is a large lunar impact crater situated along the Moon's south-southwestern limb, bordering the western edge of the walled plain Bailly. Because it sits on the limb, the crater is viewed nearly edge-on from Earth and its visibility is heavily influenced by libration. The crater Pingré lies to the northeast on the near side, Arrhenius is to the north just over the limb on the far side, and the 630-kilometer-wide Mendel-Rydberg Basin lies to the north.
Dating to the lunar Eratosthenian period, Hausen is the largest crater of Eratosthenian age on the Moon. Its rim is generally circular with an outward bulge to the south-southeast, terraced inner walls to the north and south, and more irregular eastern and western flanks. Slumping along the east and southeast flanks forms a sharp edge, while the overall structure shows little erosion or crater overlay aside from a single small craterlet on the southwest rim.
The interior floor is mostly level with scattered areas of rough terrain and a central peak complex offset slightly east of the midpoint. This peak system extends north to south across several ridges separated by valleys, flanked by a lower range of hills to the southeast and a cluster of hills to the south. Infrared spectroscopy of these central rises identified the spectral signature of pure crystalline plagioclase.