Abulfeda (crater)

Abulfeda is a lunar impact crater located in the central highlands of the Moon. To the northeast is the crater Descartes, and to the south-southeast is Almanon. To the north is the crater Dollond. A chain of craters named the Catena Abulfeda runs between the southern rim of Abulfeda and the north rim of Almanon, then continues for a length of 210 kilometers across the Rupes Altai. The crater was named for 14th century Kurdish historian Ismael Abul-fida.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Abulfeda Crater

Lunar Orbiter 4 image
Coordinates	13.8°S 13.9°E / -13.8; 13.9
Diameter	62 km
Depth	3.1 km
Colongitude	346° at sunrise
Eponym	Ismael Abul-fida

LRO WAC mosaic

Abulfeda and Descartes craters
NASA Image

Both the south and northeast sides of the crater rim are overlain by multiple small craterlets. The inner wall is noticeably wider in the east, and shallow and worn to the north. The crater floor has been resurfaced, either by ejecta from the Mare Imbrium or by basaltic lava, and is relatively smooth and featureless. The crater lacks a central rise at the midpoint, which may have been buried. The inner sides appear to have been somewhat smoothed down, most likely as a result of minor bombardment and seismic shaking from other impacts in the vicinity.[6][7]

Abulfeda is a crater of Nectarian age.[8]

A crater chain along the southern rim of Abulfeda was considered for a landing site of an early Apollo mission, primarily because it was considered to be a typical highland site, and at the time, crater chains were thought to possibly be volcanic in nature (rather than of impact origin).[9]

Selenochromatic Image (Si) of the crater area