Geological Chronicle
Located in the south-southwest region of the Moon near the limb, Le Gentil spans 125.38 kilometers across. The formation lies nearly attached to the southern rim of the vast walled plain Bailly, with the crater Drygalski positioned to the southeast. Due to its location near the lunar limb, observers on Earth view the crater at an oblique angle that causes considerable foreshortening.
Deep erosion from subsequent impacts has reduced the crater to a heavily worn depression bordered by a rolling ridge indented with crater notches. Its interior floor is pocked by a multitude of tiny craterlets and two prominent companions, Le Gentil B and Le Gentil C, with a smaller craterlet attached to the eastern rim of Le Gentil C. The formation is named for French astronomer Guillaume Hyazinthe Le Gentil.