Roche (crater)

Roche

LRO WAC image, with Roche at center and Pauli at bottom
Coordinates	42°18′S 136°30′E / 42.3°S 136.5°E / -42.3; 136.5Coordinates: 42°18′S 136°30′E / 42.3°S 136.5°E / -42.3; 136.5
Diameter	160 km
Depth	Unknown
Colongitude	226° at sunrise
Eponym	Édouard A. Roche

Roche is a large crater on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. The prominent crater Pauli lies across the southern rim of Roche, and the outer of Pauli covers a portion of Roche's interior floor. To the north-northwest of Roche is the crater Eötvös, and just to the west-northwest lies Rosseland.

The western rim of Roche has been somewhat distorted and straightened. The rim as a whole is worn and eroded, with multiple tiny craterlets marking the surface. The satellite crater Roche B lies across the northeastern inner wall.

The interior floor of Roche is relatively level, but is also marked by several small and tiny craterlets. A grouping of these craters lies near the midpoint. Just to the northwest of this grouping is a bright patch of high-albedo material. Sections of the floor along the north-northwestern side have a lower albedo than elsewhere, usually an indication of basaltic-lava flows similar to what fills the lunar maria. The extent of this patch may actually be larger, but covered with higher-albedo ejecta.

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Roche.