Murchison 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...

 on the north edge of the Sinus Medii

Sinus Medii

Sinus Medii is a small lunar mare that is located at the intersection of the Moon's equator and prime meridian. As seen from the Earth, this feature is located in the central part of the Moon's near side, and it is the point closest to the Earth...

, named in honour of the geologist Sir Roderick Murchison

Roderick Murchison

Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet KCB DCL FRS FRSE FLS PRGS PBA MRIA was a Scottish geologist who first described and investigated the Silurian system.-Early life and work:...

. It shares a section of rim with the crater Pallas

Pallas (crater)

Pallas is a heavily eroded lunar crater located to the north of the Sinus Medii. To the northwest is the smaller but less worn crater Bode. Pallas shares a low wall with the crater Murchison that is attached to the southeast, and there are two gaps in the shared rim.The outer wall of Pallas is...

. To the southeast on the mare

Lunar mare

The lunar maria are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for "seas", by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich compositions, and...

 is the circular crater Chladni

Chladni (crater)

Chladni is a small lunar impact crater that lies near the northwest edge of Sinus Medii, in the central part of the Moon. The rim of the crater is roughly circular, and there is a small central floor at the mid-point of the sloping inner walls. This feature has a higher albedo than the surrounding...

, and to the northeast is Ukert

Ukert (crater)

Ukert is a lunar impact crater that lies on a strip of rugged ground between Mare Vaporum to the north and Sinus Medii in the south. It is located to the north-northwest of the crater Triesnecker and northeast of the crater pair of Pallas and Murchison....

. Farther to the east is the prominent Triesnecker

Triesnecker (crater)

Triesnecker is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located in the Sinus Medii, near the central part of the Moon's near side. It is located to the north-northwest of the crater Rhaeticus, and to the east-southeast of the flooded Murchison....

. Murchison lies astride the lunar zenith line, i.e. the starting longitude of the selenographic coordinate system. From here the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 would appear almost directly overhead.

The wall of Murchison is heavily worn and has completely disappeared in a wide gap to the southeast. The rim is most intact along the northeast part of the crater, but even there it is indented and irregular. Only a ridge remains of the rim shared by Pallas and Murchison, with gaps to the north and south. A low ridge from the east wall runs south to join the rim of Chladni. The crater floor has been flooded with 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...

, and joins the Sinus Medii through the wide gap in the southeast wall.

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 Murchison.

Murchison	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
T	4.4° N	0.1° E	3 km