Geological Chronicle
Vestine is a heavily eroded impact crater spanning 97.81 kilometers across on the far side of the Moon, situated just beyond the northeastern limb. Positioned southwest of the walled plain Harkhebi and northwest of the Maxwell–Richardson crater pair, the feature formed during the Imbrian period of the lunar geologic timescale.
The crater rim forms an irregular ridge enclosing an interior floor marked by a rounded central ridge and an adjacent small craterlet to the east. Vestine covers the eastern half of Vestine T, an older and smaller precursor crater, while the satellite crater Vestine A interrupts its northern rim.
Before receiving its formal designation in 1970 from the International Astronomical Union, the feature was cataloged as Crater 111. It was named in honor of American geophysicist and meteorologist Ernest Harry Vestine.