Due to its location the crater appears very oval because of foreshortening, and it is viewed almost from the side.

The crater floor has several small craterlets across its surface, and it has a low ridge near the midpoint.

To the southwest is the rille designated Rima Cardanus, a cleft in the mare that generally follows a northeasterly direction.

Cardanus is a crater of Upper (Late) Imbrian age.

[1] By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Cardanus.