Named after Robert Methven Petrie - Scottish-born Canadian astrophysicist (1906-1966).
Petrie is a small lunar impact crater that is located to the east of the much larger walled plain Fabry. Most of the rim is sharp-edged, with a deposit of scree along the base of the inner wall. There is an outward bulge to the rim along the southwest, where the surface has slumped into the interior. (wikipedia entry)
A crater is a circular depression likely created by an impact event. On the Moon they are named after deceased scientists, polar explorers, astronauts or cosmonauts.
