Montes Apenninus are a rugged

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

range on the northern part of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

's near side. They are named after the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. With their formation dating back about 3.9 billion years, Montes Apenninus are fairly old.

Description

This range forms the southeastern border of the large

Mare Imbrium Mare Imbrium (Latin ''imbrium'', the "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains", "Sea of Tears") is a vast lunar mare, lava plain within the Imbrium Basin on the Moon and is one of the larger craters in the Solar System. The Imbrium Basin formed fro ...

lunar mare The lunar maria (; singular: mare ) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient asteroid impacts on the far side on the Moon that triggered volcanic activity on the opposite (near) side. They were dubbed , Latin for 'seas' ...

and the northwestern border of the

Terra Nivium Terra Nivium (Latin for "Land of Snows") is a roughly triangular highland region on the Moon. In his ''Almagestum novum'', the notable selenographer Giovanni Riccioli named the various highland regions terrae. However, unlike his naming scheme for ...

highland region. It begins just to the west of the prominent crater

Eratosthenes Eratosthenes of Cyrene (; grc-gre, Ἐρατοσθένης ; – ) was a Greek polymath: a mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexand ...

, which abuts against the southern face of the range. To the west of these mountains is a narrow gap where Mare Imbrium in the north joins

Mare Insularum Mare Insularum (Latin ''īnsulārum'', the "sea of islands") is a lunar mare located in the Insularum basin just south of the western Mare Imbrium. The basin material is of the Lower Imbrian epoch, with the mare material of the Upper Imbrian e ...

to the south. Further to the west are the

Montes Carpatus Montes Carpatus is a mountain range that forms the southern edge of the Mare Imbrium on the Moon. The selenographic coordinates of this range are 14.5° N, 24.4° W, and the formation has an overall diameter of . They were named by astronomer J ...

mountains. Aldo Ferruggia - Montes Appenninus

From Eratosthenes, the mountains form an arcing chain that gradually bends from east to northeast, ending at Promontorium Fresnel at about

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north po ...

29.5° N. Here is another gap where the Mare Imbrium to the west joins the

Mare Serenitatis Mare Serenitatis (Latin ''serēnitātis'', the "Sea of Serenity") is a lunar mare located to the east of Mare Imbrium on the Moon. Its diameter is . Geology Mare Serenitatis is located within the Serenitatis basin, which is of the Nectarian ...

to the east. At the north end of this gap lie the

Montes Caucasus Montes Caucasus is a rugged range of mountains in the northeastern part of the Moon. It begins at a gap of level surface that joins the Mare Imbrium to the west with the Mare Serenitatis to the east, and extends in an irregular band to the ...

. This range contains several mountains that have received names, listed below ranging from west to northeast: * Mons Wolff * Mons Serao (unofficial name) * Mons Ampère *

Mons Huygens Mons Huygens is the Moon's tallest mountain (but not its highest point, which is Selenean Summit). It is about high and is located in the Montes Apenninus. Adjacent to the west is Mons Ampère. The Montes Apenninus were formed by the impact tha ...

, often listed as the highest mountain on the Moon (though not the highest point) *

Mons Bradley Mons Bradley is a lunar mountain massif in the Montes Apenninus range, along the eastern edge of the Mare Imbrium. It is located to the west of the crater Conon. To the west of this peak is the Rima Bradley rille. (See below.) The selenograph ...

Mons Hadley Delta Mons Hadley Delta (δ) is a massif in the northern portion of the Montes Apenninus, a range in the northern hemisphere of the Moon adjacent to Mare Imbrium. It has a height of 3.6 km above the plains to the north and west. To the north of t ...

Mons Hadley Mons Hadley is a massif in the northern portion of the Montes Apenninus, a range in the northern hemisphere of the Moon. It has a height of above the adjacent plain and a maximum diameter of 25 km at the base. To the southwest of th ...

The last two peaks are perhaps most famous for forming the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

where the

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greater focus on science than ea ...

mission made its landing. This landing was considered one of the most scientifically successful missions of the Apollo program and started the last three J-Series missions that included the lunar rover and 3-day stays. Apollo 15 explored smaller peak Mons Hadley Delta (δ) and Rima Hadley

rille Rille (German for 'groove') is typically used to describe any of the long, narrow depressions in the surface of the Moon that resemble channels. The Latin term is ''rima'', plural ''rimae''. Typically, a rille can be several kilometers wi ...

. This was perhaps the most geologically diverse landing site of the program. Much of this range forms a sharp, rugged rise at the edge of the Mare Imbrium, with a wide expanse of foothills on the far (southeastern) face. There are, however, some rugged foothills on the northwestern side along the section of the range to the southeast of

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse (;; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scienti ...

. The total length of the range is about , with some of the peaks rising as high as .

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References

External links

* {{Moon colonization Apenninus, Montes