Lunar Nomenclature Database

The Full Moon Atlas™ is a sortable and searchable compendium of all known and named significant craters, mountains, rilles, scarps, valleys and other lunagraphic and geographical features on the Moon, with detailed information on the origin of the feature’s name.

The Full Moon Atlas CraterBase™ extracts, corrects and enhances data from publicly-available resources, including nomenclature gazetteers of Lunar features previously published by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in conjunction with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Science Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The Full Moon Atlas corrects numerous errors in facts, details and spelling made in previous lunagraphic gazetteers, and enhances the sparse and often inaccurate information previously included in IAU and USGS databases.

How To Use The Full Moon Atlas:

All columns are sortable – either alphabetically (A-Z or Z-A) or numerically (ascending or descending) – by clicking the ▲ arrow at the top of the column.

Looking for a specific feature or entry? Use the Search tool located above the database.

You may print the database, in part or in full, by clicking the PRINT icon above the database.

You may export the database, in part or in full, by clicking the Excel, CSV or Copy icon above the database. (Clicking Copy copies the data to your clipboard in raw text form.)

PRO TIP 1: When searching, a partial word (such as “dan“) will find all features with that include those letters in sequence (such as “Daniel,” “Daniell,” “Cardanus,” “Danjon,” “Danish,” etc.

PRO TIP 2: When searching for a specific type of feature – except for craters (which are the default feature type in this database) – enter the feature type. For example, searching “lacus” will find all lakes on the Moon. Searching “mare” will find all maria (“seas”) on the Moon. Searching “rima” will find all rimae (linear rilles, or fissures) on the Moon, etc.

🔑 KEY TO LUNAR NOMENCLATURE (Click to open/close)

FEATURE NAME: The entity – usually a person – after which the feature was named (or designated). In several cases, a significant (large) crater has numerous smaller “satellite” craters adjacent to it that are named for the same entity, but with a letter (A-Z) or symbol (such as β or δ) appended to it.
† [DAGGER] – A feature name followed by a dagger (†) signifies that the designation is informal or is not considered official, but may be generally accepted or recognized. In some instances, it denotes that a designation was removed or vacated in order to be reassigned with a new designation.
[ASTERISK] – An asterisk (*) denotes that the designation is honorary. While all lunagraphic designations are essentially “honorary,” the designation is informal or may not be considered official by some organizations and may not be included in their publications.
DIA – The estimated diameter of the feature (if available) in kilometers. If no value is shown – such as 0.00 km – it does not necessarily mean that the diameter is zero; it can mean that no valid measurement is available.
LAT – The estimated latitude at the center center of the feature.
LON – The estimated longitude at the approximate center of the feature.
ORIGIN – A brief overview of who (or what) the feature was named to honor or signify. For example, if the designation is for a person, that person’s last name appears in the Feature Name column, with their given name, birth/death dates, and a synopsis of their achievements in the Origin section.
[TILDE] – A tilde (~) in the Origin section shows the placement of the last name (surname), Latinized or honorific name in the given name of the person for whom the Feature Name was designated. For example, in the Origin section for the crater named Wolff, the tilde in “Christian, Baron von ~” denotes where “Wolff” appears in the honoree’s full name.

Lunar Nomenclature Database

– Asterisk (*) denotes honorary designation.
† – Dagger (†) denotes unofficial, informal or vacated designation.
The designation of certain lunagraphic features may appear in recognized atlases, gazetteers or indexes but have not necessarily undergone formal review or received official approval from any recognized authority, such as an international naming body. Nevertheless, the feature name may be widely used or commonly recognized by various astronomical organizations and communities or within general discourse.

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“The Full Moon Atlas” and “CraterBase” are the exclusive copyrights (content) and trademarks (branding) of the International Lunar Geographic Society.
All rights reserved under international copyright, trademark and intellectual property laws, treaties and regulations.