Mons Pico is a solitary

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

mountain that lies in the northern part of the

Mare Imbrium Mare Imbrium (Latin ''imbrium'', the "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains") 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 from the collision ...

basin, to the south of the dark-floored crater

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

and on the southern rim of a

ghost crater A palimpsest , in planetary astronomy, is an ancient crater that has been degraded over time. They may also be referred to as "ghost craters", "degraded craters", "buried craters", or "pathological craters". Palimpsests have been identified on M ...

. This peak forms part of the surviving inner ring of the Imbrium basin, continuing to the northwest and with the

Montes Teneriffe Montes Teneriffe is a range on the northern part of the Moon's near side. It was named after Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands.Montes Recti Montes Recti is a mountain range on the northern part of the Moon's near side. It was given the Latin name for "Straight Range". The name was approved in 1961 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).Montes Spitzbergen The Montes Spitzbergen (Spitzbergen Mountains) is a solitary mountain chain in the eastern Mare Imbrium of the Moon. It is located about 80 km to the north of the flooded crater Archimedes (crater), Archimedes. The range trends from south ...

. This mountain feature is thought to have been named by

Johann Hieronymus Schröter Johann Hieronymus Schröter (30 August 1745, Erfurt – 29 August 1816, Lilienthal) was a German astronomer. Life Schröter was born in Erfurt, and studied law at Göttingen University from 1762 until 1767, after which he started a ten- ...

for

Pico del Teide Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

Description

Mons Pico forms an elongated feature with a length of 25 kilometers (oriented northwest–southeast) and a width of 15 km. The peak rises to a height of 2.4 km, comparable to the maximum

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

of the Montes Teneriffe. The mountain itself is a very reflective and bright object. Due to its isolated location on the

lunar mare The lunar maria ( ; mare ) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by lava flowing into ancient impact basins. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich composition, and hence appear dark to ...

, this peak can form prominent shadows when illuminated by oblique sunlight. It is also known as a location of Transient Lunar Anomalies. A smaller peak to the southeast of Mons Pico is sometimes called Mons Pico β (Beta). This region of the mare contains a number of

wrinkle ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features ...

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Mons Pico.

Pico in fiction

Strange objects appear near Pico in the 1957 science fiction novel ''

Blast Off at Woomera ''Blast Off at Woomera'' is a children's science fiction novel, the first in the ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series by British author Hugh Walters. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1957, in the United States by Criterion Books in 1958 ...

'' by Hugh Walters; their fate is further expanded upon in the sequels ''

The Domes of Pico ''The Domes of Pico'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the second in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1958, in the US by Criterion Books in 1959 under the title ''Menace from the ...

'' and ''

Operation Columbus ''Operation Columbus'' is a juvenile science fiction novel, the third in Hugh Walters' ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1959, in the US by Criterion Books in 1960 under the title ''First on the Moon ...

''. Pico is the site of a climactic space battle in

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. Clarke co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A ...

's novel ''

Earthlight ''Earthlight'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1955. It is an expansion to novel length of a novella of the same name that he had published four years earlier. Overview ''Earthlight'' is a scie ...

.'' It is also mentioned in passing in his novel '' 3001: The Final Odyssey'' as a storage repository of both

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

and

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

viruses, and in his short story " The Sentinel" (in which Wilson, the protagonist, mentions having climbed it). Pico is mentioned in the Jules Verne novel ''

Around the Moon ''Around the Moon'' (, 1869), also translated as ''Circling the Moon'' and ''All Around the Moon'', is the sequel to Jules Verne's 1865 novel, ''From the Earth to the Moon''. It is a science fiction tale which continues the trip to the Moon that w ...

'' as the three main characters observe it from their spacecraft. Two of the travelers, Nichol and Ardan, suggest christening the nearby unnamed peak Barbicane, in honor of the third.

References

External links

LAC-25
Lunar Quadrangle Map with

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

feature names {{DEFAULTSORT:Pico, Mons Mountains on the Moon Mare Imbrium

Description

Satellite craters

Pico in fiction

See also

References

External links