Hypatia is a lunar impact crater along the northwest edge of Sinus Asperitatis, a bay on the southwest edge of Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after Egyptian mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria. The nearest crater with an eponym is Alfraganus to the west-southwest. However, farther to the south-southeast, across the lunar mare, is the prominent crater Theophilus.
Hypatia is an asymmetrical formation with a rugged, irregular outer rim cut through in several places by narrow clefts. It is generally longer along an axis running to the north-northwest, with the widest outward bulge occurring on the west side at the northern end. It resembles a merger of several crater formations with a common interior floor. Attached to the exterior rim along the southwest is the satellite crater Hypatia A, a more symmetrical, bowl-shaped crater.
About 70 kilometers to the north of Hypatia is a system of linear rilles designated Rimae Hypatia, running about 180 kilometers across the Mare Tranquillitatis, and generally following a course to the south-southeast. The part of the rilles close to the crater Moltke was informally called U.S. Highway 1 by the Apollo 10 and Apollo 11 crews.
By convention, these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint closest to Hypatia.