Geological Chronicle
Stöfler is a large impact crater in the crater-dotted southern highlands of the Moon, measuring 129.87 kilometers in diameter. Positioned west of the crater Maurolycus and attached to the distorted crater Fernelius to the north, the formation displays a worn and eroded rim that remains relatively intact along most of its outline. Its western rim is overlain and damaged by the crater Faraday, which in turn has been overlain by several smaller craters, while Stöfler K intrudes into the northwestern rim and Stöfler F indents the southwestern interior wall.
The interior of Stöfler features a low-albedo floor in its northwest half, making it one of the few craters in this region with a dark floor. The floor has been filled in with deposits from lava flows or basin impact ejecta, leaving it relatively flat and featureless in the northwest half and burying any central peak that once existed. The level expanse is crossed by bright ray material from Tycho to the west, with British astronomer T. W. Webb noting at least 16 minute craters across its interior.
In addition to its morphology, Stöfler is the site of a magnetic anomaly. The crater commemorates the German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Stöffler, and its designation was formally adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1935.