Geological Chronicle
Sklodowska is a prominent impact crater measuring 125.55 kilometers in diameter on the far side of the Moon, situated just beyond the southeastern limb. Under favorable conditions of libration and illumination, the formation can sometimes be viewed from Earth. It lies to the northeast of the older walled plain Curie and to the southwest of Pasteur.
The crater exhibits little appearance of wear from impact erosion, retaining a well-defined rim. While roughly circular, its margin displays irregular outward bulges along the south and southwest, with the small crater Sklodowska J intruding slightly into the southeastern rim. Multiple terraces line the inner walls, with slumped shelves along the northeastern side.
Within the crater, the interior floor forms a nearly level plain marked by small craterlets surrounding a prominent central peak at the midpoint. The formation consists of two ridges separated by a narrow valley, with the larger peak northeast of the center and the smaller to the southwest. The infrared spectrum of pure crystalline plagioclase has been identified on this rise.
The crater was named after Maria Skłodowska-Curie, the Polish and naturalized French physicist, chemist, and Nobel laureate.