Copernicus is a
lunarimpact crater located in eastern
Oceanus Procellarum. It was named after the astronomer
Nicolaus Copernicus.=10.5px It typifies craters that formed during the
Copernican period in that it has a prominent
ray system. It may have been created by debris from the breakup of the parent body of asteroid
495 Eulalia 800 million years ago.Copernicus is visible using
binoculars, and is located slightly northwest of the center of the Moon's Earth-facing hemisphere. South of the crater is the
Mare Insularum, and to the south-south west is the crater
Reinhold. North of Copernicus are the
Montes Carpatus, which lie at the south edge of
Mare Imbrium. West of Copernicus is a group of dispersed lunar hills. Due to its relative youth, the crater has remained in a relatively pristine shape since it formed.The circular rim has a discernible hexagonal form, with a
terraced inner wall and a 30 km wide, sloping
rampart that descends nearly a kilometer to the surrounding
mare. There are three distinct terraces visible, and arc-shaped
landslides due to slumping of the inner wall as the crater debris subsided.Most likely due to its recent formation, the crater floor has not been flooded by
lava. The terrain along the bottom is hilly in the southern half while the north is relatively smooth. The central peaks consist of three isolated mountainous rises climbing as high as 1.2 km above the floor. These peaks are separated from each other by valleys, and they form a rough line along an east–west axis. Infrared observations of these peaks during the 1980s determined that
olivine was the main
mafic mineral.
Source: Wikipedia 
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