The crater wall and interior have been heavily eroded by many subsequent impacts, leaving the features rounded and irregular. A pair of craters lie across the southwestern rim, and two small craterlets lie along the eastern rim. The interior floor is irregular and contains many tiny craterlets.
Appleton lies between a pair of satellite craters that are located on opposite sides of the rim, forming a triple formation. Appleton R is located just to the west-southwest, and contains another crater just inside its north rim. On the opposite side of Appleton is Appleton D, a comparably sized formation to Appleton R.
Satellite craters
By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Appleton.
Appleton
Latitude
Longitude
Diameter
D
38.0° N
160.6° E
37 km
M
33.9° N
158.3° E
21 km
Q
34.3° N
155.3° E
26 km
R
36.2° N
156.2° E
39 km
References
Andersson, L. E.;
Whitaker, E. A. (1982). NASA Catalogue of Lunar Nomenclature. NASA RP-1097.
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.