Geological Chronicle
Wexler lies across the south-southeast limb of the Moon, spanning a diameter of 52.44 kilometers near coordinates 68.88° S and 90.71° E. In this location not much detail about the formation can be discerned from Earth, requiring an orbital vantage to reveal most of its structure. It sits about one hundred kilometers north of the larger crater Hale and south-southeast of Petrov.
The rim retains much of its original structure, though softened and worn in comparison to the younger Hale. The wall presents a polygonal appearance along most of the perimeter, with traces of terraces still visible along sections of the inner wall. Aside from a small crater across the northwest rim, the formation is not significantly marked by impacts, and its relatively flat interior floor hosts a central peak near the midpoint alongside the ghostly remnant of a crater to the northeast.
Within a half crater diameter to the north and east lies a wide, valley-like rift in the surface. The narrow end of this cut begins east of Wexler and follows a nearly straight, widening course to the northeast before opening wide towards the northwest. In 1970, the IAU formally adopted the name Wexler, honoring American meteorologist Harry Wexler.