ETYM Latin crater, cratera, a mixing vessel, the mouth of a volcano, Greek krathr, from kerannynai to mix; cf. Skr. çrî to mix, çir to cook, çrâ to cook. Related to Grail, in Holy Grail.
A bowl-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite or bomb.

A faint constellation in the southern hemisphere near Virgo.
Bowl-shaped depression, usually round and with steep sides. Craters are formed by explosive events such as the eruption of a volcano or by the impact of a meteorite. A caldera is a much larger feature.
The Moon has more than 300,000 craters over 1 km/6 mi in diameter, formed by meteorite bombardment; similar craters on Earth have mostly been worn away by erosion. Craters are found on many other bodies in the Solar System.
Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, US, have shown that craters produced by impact or by volcanic activity have distinctive shapes, enabling astronomers to distinguish likely methods of crater formation on planets in the Solar System. Unlike volcanic craters, impact craters have a raised rim and central peak and are almost always circular, irrespective of the meteorite's angle of incidence.