Zhinyu (crater)

Zhinyu is a lunar impact crater that is located within Von Kármán crater on the far side of the Moon. The crater is located west of the landing site of the Chinese Chang'e 4 lander.^[1] The best fit model of the crater impactor suggest a projectile with a diameter of 224 m and a velocity of 17 km/s.^[2]

The crater's name was approved by the IAU on 4 February 2019.^[3] It is named after the Chinese mythical figure Zhinü,^[a] the "weaver girl" from the traditional myth The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, as well as an ancient Chinese constellation.^[3]

This is a young crater with a diameter of about 3.8 km and a depth of around 800 m. This impact penetrated the 320 m deep basalt mare deposits in the Von Kármán crater, thus providing information about the subsurface deposits. The ejecta from the Zhinyu crater varies radially by distance, suggesting a heterogeneous composition. It displays three layers of separate deposits from the mare, but the composition of the layers is similar and may have a common origin.^[4]