Stöfler is a large 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...

 impact 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...

 located in the crater-riddled southern highlands, named for Johannes Stöffler

Johannes Stöffler

Johannes Stöffler was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, priest, maker of astronomical instruments and professor at the University of Tübingen.-Life:...

. It sits to the west of the crater Maurolycus

Maurolycus (crater)

Maurolycus is one of the more prominent lunar craters in the southern highland region of the Moon that is covered in overlapping crater impacts. It is joined at the southeast rim by the smaller crater Barocius. Due west lie the overlapping pair of Stöfler and Faraday...

. The distorted crater Fernelius

Fernelius (crater)

Fernelius is a lunar impact crater located in the southern highlands just to the north of the walled plain Stöfler. The crater Kaiser is located next to the northwest rim of Fernelius. To the north-northwest are the craters Nonius and Walther...

 is attached to the northern rim, and Miller

Miller (crater)

Miller is a lunar impact crater that lies amidst the rugged terrain in the southern part of the Moon. It is attached to the northern rim of the smaller crater Nasireddin, and the outer rampart of the latter reaches almost to the central peak formation at the mid-point of Miller's interior floor...

 and Nasireddin

Nasireddin (crater)

Nasireddin is a lunar impact crater that lies in the rugged terrain in the southern part of the Moon's near side. This crater overlaps two older formations, intruding into the crater Miller to the north and Huggins to the west...

 lie to the west. Faraday

Faraday (crater)

Faraday is a lunar impact crater in the southern highlands of the Moon. It lies across the southeast rim of the larger crater Stöfler, and the northwest rim of Faraday forms a wide rampart across the otherwise flat floor of Stöfler...

 has overlain and damaged the western rim, and this crater in turn has been overlain by several smaller craters.

The rim of Stöfler is worn and eroded, but the outline remains relatively intact except where overlain by Faraday. The smaller Stöfler K intrudes into the northwestern rim, and Stöfler F forms an indentation into the base of the southwestern interior wall.

The crater floor has been filled in with deposits, either from 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 or ejecta from basin impacts, and is relatively flat and featureless in the northwest half. If there was a central peak, it has now become buried. The floor has a low albedo

Albedo

Albedo , or reflection coefficient, is the diffuse reflectivity or reflecting power of a surface. It is defined as the ratio of reflected radiation from the surface to incident radiation upon it...

, making the crater relatively easy to identify as it is one of the few craters in this region of the lunar surface that has a dark floor. Traces of bright ray material

Ray system

A ray system comprises radial streaks of fine ejecta thrown out during the formation of an impact crater, looking a bit like many thin spokes coming from the hub of a wheel. The rays can extend for lengths up to several times the diameter of their originating crater, and are often accompanied by...

 from Tycho

Tycho (crater)

Tycho is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the southern lunar highlands, named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe . To the south is the crater Street; to the east is Pictet, and to the north-northeast is Sasserides. The surface around Tycho is replete with craters of various sizes,...

, located to the west, can been seen across the floor.

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 Stöfler.

Stöfler	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
D	43.8° S	4.3° E	54 km
E	43.8° S	5.8° E	16 km
F	42.7° S	4.9° E	18 km
G	43.4° S	2.0° E	20 km
H	40.3° S	1.7° E	27 km
J	42.2° S	2.4° E	76 km
K	39.4° S	4.2° E	19 km
L	39.1° S	7.8° E	17 km
M	41.0° S	8.1° E	9 km
N	41.9° S	6.6° E	14 km
O	43.3° S	1.3° E	9 km
P	43.2° S	7.3° E	33 km
R	42.2° S	1.8° E	6 km
S	44.9° S	5.8° E	9 km
T	39.7° S	8.2° E	5 km
U	40.1° S	9.6° E	5 km
X	40.5° S	5.5° E	3 km
Y	39.9° S	5.5° E	3 km
Z	40.3° S	3.2° E	4 km