This basin, first imaged in its entirety during MESSENGER's third Mercury flyby, was quickly identified as a feature of high scientific interest, because of its fresh appearance, its distinctively colored interior plains, and the extensional troughs on its floor.

[3] The central part of Rachmaninoff is occupied by a peak ring 130 km in diameter and somewhat elongated in the north–south direction.

[3] The lowest recorded elevation on Mercury, 5380 meters below the global average, lies within Rachmaninoff Basin.

Rachmaninoff is the fourth impact crater on Mercury (after Caloris, Rembrandt and Raditladi), where extensional tectonic features have been observed.

[1] A distinct bright area between the inner peak ring and the rim in the southeast portion of the crater is known as Suge Facula.