This is a heavily eroded crater formation with an outer rim that has been considerably worn by subsequent impacts. As a result, the outer rim is irregular and poorly defined. Intruding slightly into the northwestern outer rim is the satellite crater Lodygin F. The northern part of the rim and interior floor are marked by a number of smaller impacts. There is a small crater in the southern part of the interior floor.
It is named after Ary A. Sternfeld, Soviet spaceflight scientist. The name was adopted by IAU in 1991.[1]
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.