Vallis Bouvard is a 284-km-long valley on the Moon, centered at . It begins at the southern rim of the crater Shaler

Shaler (crater)

Shaler is a lunar impact crater that lies on the southeast interior edge of the Montes Cordillera mountain ring that surrounds the immense Mare Orientale formation. It is located near the southwest limb of the Moon on the near side, and so is viewed nearly from on edge from the Earth...

, and winds its way to the south-southeast towards Baade

Baade (crater)

Baade is a lunar impact crater that is located near the southwest limb of the Moon on the near side, to the southwest of the enormous Mare Orientale impact basin. The area to the east of this crater forms the junction between the 280-km-long Vallis Bouvard to the north and the narrower,...

. This is one of several such valleys that radiate away from the southeast edge of the Mare Orientale

Mare Orientale

Mare Orientale is one of the most striking large scale lunar features, resembling a target ring bull's-eye. Located on the extreme western edge of the lunar nearside, this impact basin is difficult to see from an Earthbound perspective.Material from this basin was not sampled by the Apollo program...

 circular impact basin, the other two being Vallis Inghirami and Vallis Baade

Vallis Baade

Vallis Baade is a 203 km long sinuous valley on the Moon running south-southeast from the crater Baade and centered at...

. It was formed by a secondary

Secondary crater

Secondary craters are impact craters formed by the ejecta that was thrown out of a larger crater. They sometimes form radial crater chains.-External links:*...

 crater chain

Crater chain

A crater chain is a line of craters along the surface of an astronomical body. The descriptor term for crater chains is catena , as specified by the International Astronomical Union's rules on planetary nomenclature....

. The valley was named after Alexis Bouvard

Alexis Bouvard

Alexis Bouvard was a French astronomer. He is particularly noted for his careful observations of the irregularities in the motion of Uranus and his hypothesis of the existence of an eighth planet in the solar system.-Life:...

.