Geological Chronicle
Positioned along the southern edge of Mare Humorum in the southwest part of the lunar near side, Vitello spans 42.51 kilometers in diameter. The crater dates to the Early Imbrian period and exhibits a low, roughly circular rim with a sharp edge enclosing a rugged, hilly floor. T. W. Webb noted that it is almost unique in having a central peak within a second concentric rampart overlooking the whole ring. Vitello lies just east of the lava-flooded crater Lee and southwest of Rupes Kelvin, an irregular fault line along the mare margin.
Vitello is classified as a floor-fractured crater because a ring of deep fractures surrounds its central peak. Infrared spectra indicate pure crystalline plagioclase on the central peak and crater floor. Sites within and around the formation appear rich in the mineral ilmenite, particularly to the west of the rim.
Vitello was once suspected of being a volcanic caldera because of its fractures, surrounding dark deposits, and status as a Saari-Shorthill infrared hotspot. High-resolution imagery from Lunar Orbiter 5 later revealed that the fractures were filled with boulders responsible for the thermal anomaly, showing that volcanic heat was not escaping from the interior.