Gould is the remnant of 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...

 formation that lies in the midst of the Mare Nubium

Mare Nubium

Mare Nubium is a lunar mare in the Nubium basin on the Moon's near side. The mare is located just to the southeast of Oceanus Procellarum. The actual basin is believed to be of Pre-Nectarian system, with the surrounding basin material being of the Lower Imbrian epoch. The mare material is of the...

, in the southwest quadrant 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 is located to the east-northeast of the prominent crater Bullialdus

Bullialdus (crater)

Bullialdus is a lunar impact crater located in the western part of the Mare Nubium. To the north by north-west is the broken-rimmed and lava-flooded crater Lubiniezky. South-west of Bullialdus lies the smaller crater König....

, and south of the crater remnant Opelt

Opelt (crater)

Opelt is the lava-flooded remnant of a lunar crater on the Mare Nubium. It lies to the north of a similar formation named Gould, and to the northeast of the prominent Bullialdus....

.

This crater has been flooded 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...

, and only segments of the outer rim still project above the surface of the lunar 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...

. The most intact section of the rim is the western quadrant, which now forms a curved ridge. There is a shorter segment of surviving rim to the northeast, which is bisected by the craterlet Gould P. Only small, low ridges remain to outline the original crater to the north and southeast, and the southern rim has been completely destroyed.

A catena

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....

, or chain of tiny craters, forms a line running from the southern part of the crater floor towards the southwest.

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 Gould.

Gould	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	19.2° S	17.0° W	3 km
B	20.5° S	18.4° W	3 km
M	17.7° S	17.2° W	41 km
N	18.4° S	17.6° W	17 km
P	18.8° S	16.6° W	8 km
U	18.2° S	14.9° W	2 km
X	20.9° S	16.9° W	3 km
Y	20.6° S	15.8° W	3 km
Z	19.5° S	15.1° W	2 km