Lunar Science · Impact Record
Tycho: The Brightest Rayed Crater of the Southern Highlands
A remarkably young and pristine impact crater dominating the southern lunar near side, known for its brilliant ray system extending thousands of kilometres across the Moon.
Feature Profile
- Feature type
- Crater, craters
- Coordinates
- 43.3° S · 11.2° W
- Diameter
- 85 km
- Depth
- 4.8 km
- Central Peak
- 1.6 km
- IAU approval
- 1935/01/01 00:00:00
- LAC quadrangle
- LAC-112 · Tycho
- Age
- ≈ 108 Ma
- Geological Period
- Copernican
Background
Tycho is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the rugged southern lunar highlands. Measuring 85 kilometres across and plunging to a depth of nearly 4.8 kilometres, its crisp rim and towering central peak make it one of the most striking visual landmarks on the lunar disk.
Estimated to have formed approximately 108 million years ago during the Cretaceous period on Earth, Tycho is an extraordinarily young crater in lunar geological time. Because it has suffered minimal micrometeorite erosion, its ejecta blanket and ray system possess an exceptionally high albedo, making Tycho brilliantly visible to the naked eye during the full Moon.
Tycho's ray system extends for more than 1,500 kilometres across the lunar surface, crossing other craters and mares. During the Apollo 17 mission in the Taurus-Littrow valley over 2,000 kilometres away, astronauts sampled a light mantle deposit believed to have been triggered by secondary impacts from Tycho's ejecta, yielding a radiometric date of approximately 108 million years.
Using Craterra's global v2 DEM and interactive surface simulation, users can explore Tycho's sheer terraced rim, descend into its deep crater floor, and examine the jagged central mountain up close.
Name origin
Tycho Brahe; Danish astronomer (1546-1601).