Figure 6-16 Lunar Craters (a) This photograph, taken from lunar orbit by astronauts, includes the crater Aristillus. Note the crater’s central peaks, the collapsed, terraced crater wall, and the ejecta blanket. Numerous smaller craters resulting from the same impact pockmark the surrounding lunar surface. The three drawings to the right show the crater formation process: (b) An incoming meteoroid, (c) upon impact, is pulverized and the surface explodes outward and downward. (d) After the impact, the ground rebounds, creating the central peak and causing the crater walls to collapse. The lighter region is the ejecta blanket.