Wilkins 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...

 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...

 that lies in the rugged highlands in the southeastern part 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...

's near side. It is located to the southwest of the crater Pons

Pons (crater)

Pons is an lunar crater that is located to the west of the prominent Rupes Altai scarp. It lies to the southeast of the crater Sacrobosco, and southwest of Polybius. To the northwest along the same flank of the formation is the crater Fermat....

 and the long Rupes Altai

Rupes Altai

Rupes Altai is an escarpment in the lunar surface that is located in the southeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side. It is named for the Altai Mountains in Asia. The selenographic coordinates of this feature are , and it has a length of about 427 km....

 scarp

Escarpment

An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...

. Just to the southeast lies the larger crater Zagut

Zagut (crater)

Zagut is a crater located in the heavily impacted southeast sector of the Moon. It is almost surrounded by other named craters, with Wilkins to the northwest, Lindenau to the east, Rabbi Levi in the southeast, and Celsius to the southwest....

, and to the north-northwest is the still-larger Sacrobosco

Sacrobosco (crater)

Sacrobosco is an irregular lunar impact crater that is located in the rugged southern highlands to the west of the Rupes Altai escarpment. It is a readily identified feature due to the three circular craters that lie on its floor. The rim of Sacrobosco is heavily worn and eroded, especially in the...

. Wilkins is 57 kilometers in diameter.

The outer rim of Wilkins has received considerable damage, leaving sections nearly disintegrated. The most intact portion is in the south, although even this rim is worn and has a valley to the southwest. There is a narrow curving gap in the western rim, with the northern edge formed by a pair of small, joined craters that include Wilkins A. The rim to the northeast barely survives, and the rim here is low and scarred by valleys and old craters. The interior floor of Wilkins is relatively flat and featureless, except for a ghost-crater

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...

 rim along the southwest edge.

The crater is named for the 20th-century English amateur Moon-mapper Hugh Percy Wilkins

Hugh Percy Wilkins

Hugh Percy Wilkins was a Welsh-born engineer and amateur astronomer.He was born in Carmarthen, where he received his early education, then lived near Llanelli prior to moving to England...

.

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 Wilkins.

Wilkins	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
A	29.1° S	18.9° E	13 km
B	29.5° S	18.9° E	8 km
C	30.8° S	20.1° E	20 km
D	28.0° S	17.7° E	34 km
E	28.3° S	19.5° E	9 km
F	30.3° S	20.4° E	7 km
G	30.0° S	18.4° E	6 km
H	28.6° S	18.5° E	6 km