# Crater

A bowl-shaped pit blasted out by an asteroid or comet impact, many with central peaks and terraced walls.

The Moon has hundreds of thousands of craters, from tiny pits to basins hundreds of kilometres across. Big young ones like Tycho and Copernicus are surrounded by bright rays of splashed debris that shine at full Moon.

**Examples:** [moon](https://astropilot.space/object/moon.md), [mercury](https://astropilot.space/object/mercury.md), [callisto](https://astropilot.space/object/callisto.md)

**Related:** [Mare](https://astropilot.space/glossary/mare.md), [Terminator](https://astropilot.space/glossary/terminator.md), [The Moon](https://astropilot.space/glossary/the-moon.md)

From the AstroPilot astronomy glossary: https://astropilot.space/glossary/crater