On the dark basalt seas. The easiest ground to find from your own backyard.
How it works
How to name a crater on the Moon
Somewhere up there is a crater that has waited four billion years for a name. Choose it, give it one that means something, and it comes back to you as a certificate posted from the dark skies of Joshua Tree.
- 01
Open the lunar atlas
Explore an interactive map of the Moon’s near side. Every marker is a real, catalogued crater that has never been given a name by anyone.
- 02
Choose your crater
Filter by lunar sea, highland or heritage ground near the Apollo landing sites. Read its coordinates, diameter and depth before you decide.
- 03
Give it a name
Add the name, the occasion and a short inscription. Watch the certificate compose itself, letter by letter, as you type.
- 04
It arrives in the post
Six pieces in a black presentation box: the certificate, the star chart, the Moon Map with your crater marked, the children’s activity poster, the field notes booklet and the decal.
Pricing
One package, one price: $22.00
Every crater in the atlas costs the same, however remarkable the terrain. All six pieces, the presentation box and shipping are included.
The bright, ancient uplands. Rougher country, more dramatic in a telescope.
Large craters that catch the sunrise line and throw kilometres of shadow.
Within sight of an Apollo landing site. Our rarest and most requested ground.
Every dedication includes all six pieces, the presentation box and free shipping.
In the box
What actually turns up
Everything arrives in a rigid black presentation box with a magnetic closure and the company seal embossed inside the lid. The posters are rolled and tied with black satin ribbon, bedded in white crinkle filler, with the certificate laid on top. It is meant to be opened in front of someone.
The “Name A Crater” Collectible Certificate
Your chosen name set large, with the crater’s true selenographic coordinates, diameter and its number in the Joshua Tree Crater Registry beneath it. Finished with a gold foil seal.
The Joshua Tree Crater Company Star Chart Poster
A full celestial chart of the night sky, with the constellations, a bright star guide and the phases of the Moon, under a Joshua Tree horizon at dusk.
The Moon Map
A labelled chart of the near side showing the maria, the polar regions, all six Apollo landing sites and the Luna landers, with thousands of unnamed craters still waiting.
The Children’s Activity Poster
A colour-in activity poster for younger astronomers, so there is something in the box for a child to do while the certificate goes up on the wall.
The Joshua Tree Field Notes Booklet
A printed field guide to reading the Moon: how an impact crater is built, which phase shows you what, and where to look for Tycho, Copernicus and the Sea of Tranquility.
The Joshua Tree Crater Company Decal
A die-cut decal of the company seal, for a telescope case, a water bottle, a laptop or the back of a truck.
Occasions worth marking
A moon crater gift for every occasion
Birthdays, graduations, weddings, new arrivals. Anyone marking a moment can put a real name on the Moon. Here is where people usually begin.
Birthdays
The gift for the person who genuinely has everything. Nobody has ever had a crater before.
Graduations
A marker for the moment somebody stepped into the rest of their life. Mounted, framed, kept.
Weddings & Anniversaries
Two names on one crater, on ground that will outlast every building on Earth.
New Arrivals
Name a crater the week a child is born and it grows up with them, hanging above the cot.
In Memory
A quiet, permanent place to put a name. Something to look up at, rather than something to unwrap.
Retirements
Forty years of work deserves more than a card. Give them somewhere to look at night.
Straight answers
Questions worth asking
Including the one everybody wants to ask and most companies avoid.
Is the crater naming official?
Official lunar nomenclature is controlled by the International Astronomical Union, and no company on Earth can sell an IAU name. What we offer is a symbolic dedication: your name is recorded permanently in the Joshua Tree Crater Registry, printed on your certificate, and tied to a real, catalogued, currently unnamed crater. We say this plainly because it matters, and because the gift is wonderful without any pretending.
Why does a gift company care about lunar conservation?
Because that is where we came from. The Joshua Tree Crater Company is a sister site of ExplOrbit Moon Land, a brand dedicated to the conservation and preservation of the Moon and its natural resources. We offer these dedications to raise awareness of the need to protect lunar land and preserve its natural resources for the future of all humanity and space exploration. Every certificate that goes out puts one more person in the position of knowing, and caring about, one real place on the Moon.
Are these real craters?
Yes. Every crater in our atlas is a genuine impact feature drawn from published lunar survey data, with its true selenographic coordinates, diameter and depth. We only offer craters that carry no official IAU name, and we permanently retire a crater from the catalogue once it has been dedicated.
Can I actually see my crater?
Most of our craters need a small telescope, and the larger ones in the Terminator tier show up in good binoculars when the sunrise line falls across them. The field notes booklet in the box explains which phase to look in and how to read shadow along the terminator, which is the trick most people never get told. If you can get yourself to Joshua Tree on a clear night, you will not need much else.
What exactly arrives?
Six pieces in a rigid black presentation box with a magnetic closure: the “Name A Crater” Collectible Certificate, the Joshua Tree Crater Company Star Chart Poster, the Moon Map of the near side with your crater marked, the children’s activity poster, the Joshua Tree Field Notes Booklet, and the company decal. The posters are rolled and tied with black ribbon inside the box. Orders placed before noon Pacific ship the same working day.
Do I own the crater, or any land on the Moon?
No, and nobody does. Under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty no individual, company or country can claim legal ownership of lunar territory, and any business telling you otherwise is selling you something it cannot deliver. This is a symbolic, commemorative dedication for educational and entertainment purposes. What is real is the crater, its coordinates, and the permanent entry in the Joshua Tree Crater Registry that carries your name.
Can two people share a crater?
Absolutely. Plenty of our dedications carry two names, a family name, or a couple and a date. You have up to sixty characters to work with, which is more room than it sounds.
Can I choose a crater for someone and let them name it?
Yes. Leave the name field as a placeholder and note it in the inscription. We will hold the registry entry open for ninety days and issue the final certificate once you send us the name.
Still unsure? Write to us and a human in Joshua Tree will answer.
