Geological Chronicle
Minnaert is a large lunar impact crater located deep in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. Spanning 137.31 kilometers across, it dates to the Pre-Nectarian period on the lunar geologic timescale. Its southeastern perimeter is partly overlain by the larger and younger crater Antoniadi, while Lyman lies to the west-northwest.
Nearly half the crater is covered by the rim, outer rampart, and ejecta from Antoniadi. The surviving rim is worn and eroded, with small craterlets scattered along the edge and inner wall. Minnaert's western interior floor is relatively level, though marked by secondary cratering and ejecta from Antoniadi; if the crater originally had a central ridge, it may now be buried.
The crater is named for Marcel Gilles Jozef Minnaert, a Dutch astronomer and astrophysicist.