South Ray (crater)

South Ray is a small lunar crater located in the Descartes Highlands, photographed from the Moon's surface by the Apollo 16 crew. The International Astronomical Union officially assigned its name in 1973.

The Apollo 16 lunar module Orion touched down between North Ray and South Ray craters on April 21, 1972. Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke spent three extravehicular activities exploring the region between the two craters, using a Lunar Roving Vehicle. Their closest approach to South Ray occurred during the second EVA at station 4, known as Cinco crater, roughly 3.9 kilometers south of the landing site. Duke captured an image of South Ray from that spot using a 500-millimeter lens.

The crater measures about 700 meters across and 120 meters deep, and it features a bright system of ejecta rays. The astronauts noted that the ejecta around South Ray was extremely bouldery, and they reported that driving a rover there would have been very difficult or impossible.

South Ray cuts into the Cayley Formation, which dates to the Imbrian period, but the crater itself is much younger, belonging to the Copernican period.