Geological Chronicle
Heraclitus is an impact crater in the rugged southern highlands of the Moon, with an official diameter of 85.74 kilometers. Licetus forms the northern end of the formation, Cuvier lies just to the east, and Lilius is situated directly to the south. Just west of Heraclitus is the small satellite crater Heraclitus K, with the overlapping pair Lilius E and Lilius D positioned further south.
A long history of impacts has heavily worn the formation and smoothed its relief. Heraclitus is composed of three sections divided by a triple-armed interior ridge. The eastern segment is the most eroded and irregular of the three, bounded by an outer rim that drops into a low ridge joining Cuvier.
The circular southwest end is the most intact section, forming the satellite crater Heraclitus D, which joins the other two sections along its northeast rim. Heraclitus descends to a depth of 3.8 kilometers, and its floor features two ghost-crater rims alongside a low ridge in the southwest. The formation may date to the Pre-Imbrian period (4.55 to 3.85 billion years ago) and is named after the sixth-century BC Greek philosopher Heraclitus.