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 Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

's near side. They are named after the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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

Description

Montes Apenninus is the most prominent remnant of the outer ring of the Imbrium basin, which also includes

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 ...

to its south and

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 no ...

to its north. The Montes Apenninus range forms the southeastern border of the large

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 ...

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 ...

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 List of features on the Moon#Terra, terrae. H ...

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

Eratosthenes Eratosthenes of Cyrene (; ; – ) was an Ancient Greek polymath: a Greek mathematics, mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theory, music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of A ...

, 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 ep ...

to the south. Further to the west are the Montes Carpatus mountains. Kepler-Manilius Si

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 geographic coordinate system, geographic 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 t ...

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. 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 highest mountain in the Moon's Montes Apenninus range. Adjacent to the west is Mons Ampère. The Montes Apenninus were formed by the impact that created Mare Imbrium. Mons Huygens rises 5,300 m (17,380 ft) from its Mare Im ...

, often incorrectly 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 selenographic ...

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 ...

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 thi ...

The last two peaks form the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing 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 Apollo program and the fourth Moon landing. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greate ...

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 w ...

. This was considered the most geologically diverse landing site of the program. Montes Apenninus forms a sharp, rugged rise at the edge of the Mare Imbrium. The total length of the range is about , with some of the peaks rising as high as . The entire area to the southeast of Montes Apenninus - its backslopes - is shaped by ejecta deposited during the violent uplift of the mountains. Sections of the Montes Apenninus front are also rubbly, a result of both fallback ejecta and landslides from the newly formed peaks.

Views

References

External links

* {{Moon colonization Apenninus, Montes