To the east-northeast of Pawsey is the large crater Campbell, and farther to the west is Bridgman.

This crater is partly overlain by the ejecta from the younger Wiener impact, leaving an uneven formation with edges that have been blanketed by material.

Within the interior is a small, cup-shaped craterlet along the base of western inner wall.

It was named in honour of the Australian radiophysicist and radio astronomer Joseph Pawsey.

Prior to formal naming by the IAU in 1970,[1] Pawsey was called Crater 55.