Lunar craters on the Earth’s moon, all of which were formed by impacts, are tracked and recognized by the International Astronomical Unit. As of the time of this writing, there are 9,137 craters recognized and 1,675 have been dated. Before an idea of lunar craters were understood, there were several different ideas of why they were caused. New craters are always being discovered by new methods, and in this article, the Top 5 Smallest Moon craters will be looked at.

Lev

At only 60 meters in size, this crater is the smallest crater on the surface of the moon. It is not named after any specific individual last, but the Russian male name Lev. Russian spacecraft Luna 24 landed to the Northwest of the crater. It is located in the Mare Crisium, which is just visible from Earth with the naked eye as a small dark spot on the edge of the Moon’s face.

Osama

This is a .5 kilometer crater in size that is an Arabic masculine name. Located in the Lacus Felicitatis, Latin for Lake of Happiness. This area is a small patch of the lunar surface that has been inundated by flows of lava, leaving a level patch with a lower albedo than the surrounding ground.

Tian Shi and Tai Wei

These 2 craters are named in an area that is the landing site of its first moon lander Chang’e-3 as “Guang Han Gong” or “Moon Palace.” There were 3 craters were given the names Zi Wei, Tian Shi and Tai Wei, three constellations in traditional Chinese astrology, according to Liu Jizhong, director of the lunar exploration project of the SASTIND. These are some of the newest craters on the moon to be named.

Robert

Robert is a tiny lunar impact crater in the southeastern part of the Mare Serenitatis. It is located to the northeast of the small crater Dawes, and to the west of the Montes Taurus range. To the east-northeast of this position is the landing site of the Apollo 17 mission, in the Taurus–Littrow valley. It is 0.56 km in size and the name does not refer to anyone specific, but rather when naming the crater in 1976, the IAU named it after the generic English name.

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