The moon has neither tectonic plates nor volcanic action. Virtually all of its mountains are the result of impacts by asteroids in the distant past. When these impacted the moon and planets, they formed craters far larger than the ones we see today, forming the lunar maria and leaving their rims to form lunar mountain ranges.
The enormous heat generated by these impacts melted the surface material of the moon and caused it to flow, swamping some craters and mountains, which stand out now as ruins on the surface of the maria. The chart shows some of the mountain features visible this week at the current phase of the moon, around first quarter.
Several prominent craters are marked to help you get your bearings: Aristoteles, Plato, Archimedes and Copernicus. The mountain ranges and individual mountains are labeled with their Latin names, "montes" for mountain ranges and "mons" for individual mountains. Far over to the east are the Taurus Mountains Montes Taurus , the landing place of the last of the manned lunar explorers, Apollo Two major mountain ranges divide two other features of the lunar landscape. Where these two meet is the prominent mountain Mons Hadley, named for British optician and instrument maker John Hadley — Apollo 15 landed here in July The lunar Alps, the Montes Alpes, sweep off to the northwest, enclosing the perfect oval crater, Plato.
On the barren floor of the Mare Imbrium are two of the most impressive single mountain peaks on the surface of the moon, Mons Piton and Mons Pico.
The Mons Piton has a base 16 miles 25 kilometers in diameter and towers 7, feet 2, m over the surrounding plain. Here are the top five features you can discover for yourself. The maria -- or seas -- of the Moon's surface visible on the near site.
The sea of tranquility Mare The lunar maria. These dark regions -- Latin for "seas" -- are solidified lava flows from between Mare Tranquillitatis contained Apollo 11's landing site. Montes Apenninus. The Moon's highest mountain range outlines Mare Imbrium, extending for over km.
Tycho crater itself is hard to discern during the Moon's full phase, but the bright white spot where Tycho crater. A highly-reflective impact crater over km in diameter in the southern lunar highlands. Prominent rays emanate from the impact site. Samples collected by Apollo 16 determined Tycho's young age: million years.
The contrast and color is slightly Copernicus is visible as a bright spot amidst the darker maria. Copernicus crater. Visible as the bright spot amidst the dark maria, Copernicus, at km in diameter, offers the greatest visual contrast of any lunar crater to human eyes.
Oceanus Procellarum. The largest of all the lunar maria, it's the only one designated an ocean. It covers approximately 4 million km 2 and contained Apollo 12's landing site.
The annotated prominent features -- many of which are naked-eye features -- of the near side of the Revera, under c. I have won numerous awards for science writing.
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