Babcock 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 is located 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...

. It lies on the northeastern edge of Mare Smythii

Mare Smythii

Mare Smythii is a lunar mare located along the equator on the easternmost edge of the lunar near side. The Smythii basin where the mare is located is of the Pre-Nectarian epoch, while the surrounding features are of the Nectarian system...

, to the southeast of Mare Marginis

Mare Marginis

Mare Marginis is a lunar mare that lies on the very edge of the lunar nearside. The selenographic coordinates of this feature are 13.3° N, 86.1° E, and the diameter is 420 km. The name is Latin for "Sea of the Edge"....

. To the south of Babcock is the crater Purkynĕ

Purkyne (crater)

Purkyně is a lunar impact crater that lies just beyond the eastern limb of the Moon, on the far side from the Earth. When conditions of libration and sunlight allow, this crater can be viewed from the Earth, although it is seen from a very low angle and not much detail can be seen...

, and to the east-northeast lies Erro

Erro (crater)

Erro is a lunar crater that lies beyond the eastern limb of the Moon, on the far side as seen from the Earth. It lies along the eastern fringes of the uneven plain that joins Mare Marginis to the northwest with Mare Smythii to the west-southwest. This part of the surface is sometimes brought into...

. Babcock is located in a region of the Moon's surface that is occasionally brought into view during favorable libration

Libration

In astronomy, libration is an oscillating motion of orbiting bodies relative to each other, notably including the motion of the Moon relative to Earth, or of Trojan asteroids relative to planets.-Lunar libration:...

s, although it is seen from the edge and so little detail can be discerned from an observer on 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...

.

The rim of Babcock has been eroded, notched and modified by subsequent impacts, leaving a somewhat irregular and uneven outer rim. The 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 relatively flat. In place of a central peak, a small crater lies very close to the crater mid-point. This crater has been designated Zasyadko

Zasyadko (crater)

Zasyadko is a small lunar crater located to the northeast of Mare Smythii. It lies beyond the eastern lunar limb in an area that is only visible during favorable librations. It is located entirely within the crater Babcock. To the southwest is McAdie. Zasyadko is a bowl-shaped formation with a...

. A smaller crater lies on the interior near the northern edge.

The area about Babcock has been subject to past inundations by basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

ic 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, leaving the surface relatively flat and the remnants of ghost craters

Palimpsest

A palimpsest is a manuscript page from a scroll or book from which the text has been scraped off and which can be used again. The word "palimpsest" comes through Latin palimpsēstus from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος originally compounded from πάλιν and ψάω literally meaning “scraped...

visible as curved ridges in the ground.

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 Babcock.

Babcock	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
H	3.0° N	96.5° E	63 km
K	1.2° N	95.2° E	10 km