Hess is a lunar

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 crater

Impact crater

In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...

 that lies in the southern hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

 on the far side of the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

. The crater rim has been worn by subsequent impacts, leaving a low, eroded outer wall. The flat interior has been resurfaced by lava

Lava

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

 flows and is free of significant impacts. This floor has a slightly darker albedo

Albedo

Albedo , or reflection coefficient, is the diffuse reflectivity or reflecting power of a surface. It is defined as the ratio of reflected radiation from the surface to incident radiation upon it...

 than the surrounding terrain.

The crater Boyle

Boyle (crater)

Boyle is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the rugged far side of the Moon. It is adjacent to the larger crater Hess to the southeast, and lies about mid-way between the craters Alder to the north-northeast and Abbe to the south-southwest.The outer rim of Boyle is...

 is nearly attached to the northeastern rim of Hess, and Abbe

Abbe (crater)

Abbe is a lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. It is located just to the south of the crater Hess, and lies to the east of the large walled basin Poincaré. It is named after the German physicist Ernst Abbe.The outer wall of Abbe is somewhat...

 lies to the south. To the west is the large walled plain Poincaré

Poincaré (crater)

Poincaré is a large lunar impact basin that lies in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. Most of the formation has been heavily eroded by subsequent impacts, leaving a battered formation with only rugged remnants of the original outer rim to the west.The eastern half has been...

, and Hess is located at the eastern edge of the crater's deeply eroded outer rim. The satellite crater Hess Z is partly overlaid by the northern rim of Hess. The small crater Hess M joins the south-southwest rim of Hess to the northwest rim of Abbe.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater mid-point that is closest to Hess.

Hess	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
M	55.9° S	173.7° E	27 km
W	52.6° S	171.4° E	28 km
Z	52.0° S	174.0° E	73 km