Geological Chronicle
Positioned in the far northern latitudes of the Moon's far side, Sommerfeld spans 150.89 kilometers across and can only be observed from orbit. The formation sits north of Rowland, a crater of comparable size, and northwest of the huge walled plain Birkhoff. Classified as a walled plain, its relatively flat interior is encircled by a ring mountain with moderately eroded outer rims that retain softened, rounded traces of a terrace structure.
Along the rim edge and inner wall to the south and southeast, several small craterlets are present, with a merged pair of small craters attached to the southern outer rim. The inner wall appears slightly wider along the eastern side, possibly due to deposits of ejecta from nearby impacts.
The interior floor forms a nearly level plain smoothed out by deposits of materials over time. Infrared observations have identified pure crystalline plagioclase across the floor, which lacks a central peak complex and holds only a small hill at its midpoint, alongside small craters near the eastern edge.