Poynting and Keeler Craters on the Lunar Far Side

A CLOSER LOOK

art002e012702 (April 6, 2026) – Poynting crater and Keeler crater are visible side by side in the lower right portion of this image of the Moon’s far side highlands. Poynting, positioned above, is a large impact crater with a well-defined rim and relatively smooth interior, indicative of material that has settled following the initial impact. Just below it, Keeler crater appears slightly smaller, with a sharply outlined rim and a more textured interior shaped by subsequent impacts and ejecta. Both features lie within the densely cratered far side highlands, preserving a record of ancient impacts that have shaped the lunar surface over billions of years.

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