Geological Chronicle
Schickard is a walled plain in the Moon’s southwest sector, near the lunar limb. It appears oblong because of foreshortening. T. W. Webb called it an enormous plain encircled by a complex wall, with an interior that was nearly level but strongly varied in color. Its diameter is 212.18 km. Schickard is named for Wilhelm, a German astronomer and mathematician who lived from 1592 to 1635.
The impact dates to the Pre-Nectarian period of the lunar geologic timescale. Schickard’s rim is worn and overlain in several places by smaller craters. The most prominent is the irregular Schickard E, which crosses the southeastern rim. Lava partly flooded the floor, leaving only the southwest portion uncovered and rough-textured.
A triangular band of lighter-albedo material marks the floor, with relatively darker patches in the north and southeast. The feature is more prominent when the Sun is at a relatively high angle. Several small craters mark the floor, most notably in the southwest.