Väisälä is a tiny
lunarimpact crater located on a rise in the
Oceanus Procellarum. Sharing the same continental island are the brilliant crater
Aristarchus to the south-southeast and
Herodotus to the south-southwest. Väisälä lies just to the west of the Rupes Toscanelli fault line, and the Rimae Aristarchus
rille system. To the southwest is the notable
Vallis Schröteri cleft.
This formation is circular and cup-shaped, with a higher
albedo than the surrounding dark surface. It was previously designated Aristarchus A before being named after prolific Finnish astronomer
Yrjö Väisälä by the
IAU in 1973.[1]
Menzel, D. H.; Minnaert, M.; Levin, B.; Dollfus, A.; Bell, B. (1971). "Report on Lunar Nomenclature by the Working Group of Commission 17 of the IAU". Space Science Reviews. 12 (2): 136–186.
Bibcode:
1971SSRv...12..136M.
doi:
10.1007/BF00171763.
S2CID122125855.