Geological Chronicle
Located near the Moon's eastern limb to the northwest of the larger crater Ansgarius and east of Kapteyn, La Pérouse spans 80.4 kilometers in diameter. Due to its limb location, the crater appears foreshortened, though orbital views show a nearly circular rim profile.
Dating to the Late Imbrian period on the lunar geologic timescale, the crater rim remains well-defined and not significantly worn by subsequent impacts. Terraces line much of the inner wall above a small outer rampart, with small outward bulges along the rim toward the south-southeast and south-southwest.
Within the interior floor, a central ridge offset to the northeast of the midpoint elongates toward the southeast, with the small crater La Pérouse D situated at its southern tip. Nearby, the satellite crater La Pérouse A is surrounded by a higher-albedo ray system. The crater's name was approved by the IAU in 1935, commemorating French explorer Jean Francois de Galoup, Comte De La Pérouse.