Pythagoras

Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...

is a prominent impact crater

Impact crater

In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...

 located near the northwestern lunar limb. It lies just to the northwest of the somewhat larger Babbage

Babbage (crater)

Babbage is an ancient lunar crater that is located near the northwest limb of the Moon, named after Charles Babbage. It is attached to the southeastern rim of the prominent crater Pythagoras...

. The crater has an oval appearance due to the oblique viewing angle. Only the western face of the interior can be viewed from the Earth, the other side being permanently out of sight.

The well-preserved rim of Pythagoras has a wide terrace system, and a slight rampart around the exterior. Although generally circular, the crater outline has a hexagonal form. The floor is flattened, but with an irregular, hilly surface. There is evidence of landslips around the periphery. In the center is a sharp, mountainous rise with a double peak that ascends 1.5 kilometers above the crater floor.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater mid-point that is closest to Pythagoras.

Pythagoras	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
B	66.1° N	73.0° W	17 km
D	64.5° N	72.0° W	30 km
G	67.8° N	75.3° W	16 km
H	67.1° N	73.3° W	18 km
K	67.3° N	75.4° W	12 km
L	67.3° N	77.6° W	12 km
M	67.5° N	81.1° W	10 km
N	66.6° N	78.1° W	14 km
P	65.3° N	75.2° W	10 km
S	67.7° N	64.7° W	8 km
T	62.5° N	51.4° W	6 km
W	63.1° N	48.9° W	4 km