Maxwell Montes ' is a mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 massif

Massif

In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...

 on the planet Venus

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

, part of which contains the highest point on the planet's surface.

General description

Located on Ishtar Terra

Ishtar Terra

Ishtar Terra is one of two main highland regions on the planet Venus. It is the smaller of the two "continents", and is located near the north pole. It is named after the Akkadian goddess Ishtar....

, the more northern of the planet's two major highlands, Maxwell Montes is 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) high. It rises about 6.4 kilometres (4 mi) miles above and to the east of Lakshmi Planum

Lakshmi Planum

Lakshmi Planum is a plateau feature on the surface of Venus on the Western Ishtar Terra. It is named after Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth.It is roughly above the mean planetary radius...

, and is about 853 kilometres (530 mi) long by 700 kilometres (435 mi) wide. The western slopes are very steep, whereas the eastern slopes descend gradually into Fortuna Tessera. Due to its elevation it is the coolest (about 380 °C (716 °F)) and least pressurised (about 60 bar (59.2 atm)) location on the surface of Venus.

Origins and geology

The origin of the Lakshmi Planum and the mountain belts such as Maxwell Montes is controversial. One theory suggests they formed over a hot plume of material rising from the interior of the planet, while another says the region is being compressed (pushed together) from all sides, resulting in material descending into the interior of the planet. The broad ridges and valleys making up Maxwell Montes and Fortuna Tessera suggest that the topography resulted from compression. The parallel ridges and valleys were cut by later extensional faults. The extreme height of Maxwell Montes in relation to other compressional mountain ranges around Lakshmi Planum suggests that its origin is more complex.

Most of Maxwell Montes has a very bright radar return which is common on Venus at high altitudes. This phenomenon

Venus snow

The Venus snow is a brightening of the radar reflection from the surface of Venus at high elevations. The nature of the "snow" was initially unknown. It could not be water ice, which cannot exist in the extremely hot, dry conditions of the Venusian surface...

 is thought to result from the presence of a mineral such as pyrite

Pyrite

The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...

.

Radar mapping and naming

By using radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 to probe through the permanent and thick clouds in the Venusian atmosphere and make observations of the surface, scientists at the American Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 discovered the extensive highland on Venus that came to be called Maxwell Montes in 1967.

In 1978, the space probe

Space probe

A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to...

 Pioneer Venus 1 went into orbit around Venus for the purpose of making radar observations of the Venusian surface. These observations made possible the creation of the first topographic map of the surface of Venus, and confirmed that a point within Maxwell Montes is the highest point above the average level of the planet's surface.

Maxwell Montes is named for James Clerk Maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...

 whose work in mathematical physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 predicted the existence of radio waves

Radio waves

Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light. Radio waves have frequencies from 300 GHz to as low as 3 kHz, and corresponding wavelengths from 1 millimeter to 100 kilometers. Like all other electromagnetic waves,...

, which made radar possible, and hence the surface observations of Venus possible.

Maxwell Montes, Alpha Regio

Alpha Regio

Alpha Regio is a region of the planet Venus extending for about 1500 kilometers centered at 22°S, 5°E.It was discovered and named by Dick Goldstein in 1964. The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature between 1976 and 1979...

, and Beta Regio

Beta Regio

Beta Regio is a region of the planet Venus known as a volcanic rise. Measuring about 3000 km, it constitutes a prominent upland region of Venus centered at ....

 are the three exceptions to the rule that the surface features of Venus are to be named for female

Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

s: women or goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

es.

The name, originally given by Ray Jurgens in 1970 on the urging of Tommy Gold, was approved by the International Astronomical Union

International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...

's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (IAU/WGPSN) between 1976 and 1979.