Montes Apenninus
Encyclopedia
Montes Apenninus are a rugged 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...

 range on the northern part of the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

's near side. They are named after the Apennine Mountains
Apennine mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...

 in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

This range forms the southeastern border of the large Mare Imbrium
Mare Imbrium
Mare Imbrium, Latin for "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains", is a vast lunar mare filling a basin on Earth's Moon and one of the larger craters in the Solar System. Mare Imbrium was created when lava flooded the giant crater formed when a very large object hit the Moon long ago...

 lunar mare
Lunar mare
The lunar maria are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for "seas", by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich compositions, and...

 and the northwestern border of the Terra Nivium
Terra Nivium
Terra Nivium is a roughly triangular highland region on the Moon. In his Almagestum novum, the notable selenographer Giovanni Riccioli named the various highland regions terrae...

 highland region. It begins just to the west of the prominent crater Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes (crater)
Eratosthenes is a relatively deep lunar impact crater that lies on the boundary between the Mare Imbrium and Sinus Aestuum mare regions. It forms the western terminus of the Montes Apenninus mountain range. The crater has a well-defined circular rim, terraced inner wall, central mountain peaks, an...

, 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
Mare Insularum is a lunar mare located in the Insularum basin just south of Mare Imbrium. The basin material is of the Lower Imbrian epoch, with the mare material of the Upper Imbrian epoch. The mare is bordered by the craters Copernicus on the east, and Kepler on the west...

 to the south. Further to the west are the Montes Carpatus
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 after the Carpathian Mountains in Central Europe.This rugged range...

 mountains.

From Eratosthenes, the mountains form an arcing chain that gradually bends from east to northeast, ending at Promontorium Fresnel at about latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

 29.5° N. Here is another gap where the Mare Imbrium to the west joins the Mare Serenitatis
Mare Serenitatis
Mare Serenitatis is a lunar mare that sits just to the east of Mare Imbrium on the Moon.It is located within the Serenitatis basin, which is of the Nectarian epoch. The material surrounding the mare is of the Lower Imbrian epoch, while the mare material is of the Upper Imbrian epoch...

 to the east. At the north end of this gap lie the Montes Caucasus
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 north-northeast to the western side of the prominent crater...

.

This range contains several mountains that have received names, listed below ranging from west to northeast:
  • Mons Wolff
  • Mons Ampère
  • Mons Huygens, often listed as the highest mountain on the Moon (though not the highest point)
  • Mons Bradley
    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....

  • Mons Hadley Delta
  • Mons Hadley
    Mons Hadley
    Mons Hadley is a massif in the northern portion of the Montes Apenninus, a range in the northern hemisphere of the Moon. The selenographic coordinates of this peak are 26.5° N, 4.7° E. It has a height of 4.6 km and a maximum diameter of 25 km at the base.To the southwest of this mountain...



The last two peaks are perhaps most famous for forming the valley where the Apollo 15
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the American Apollo space program, the fourth to land on the Moon and the eighth successful manned mission. It was the first of what were termed "J missions", long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible on previous...

 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 Mons Hadley Delta (δ) and Hadley Rille which winds. 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 (crater)
Archimedes is a large lunar impact crater on the eastern edges of the Mare Imbrium. To the south of the crater extends the Montes Archimedes mountainous region. On the southeastern rim is the Palus Putredinis flooded plain, containing a system of rilles named the Rimae Archimedes that extend over...

. The total length of the range is about 600 km (372.8 mi), with some of the peaks rising as high as 5 km (3.1 mi).
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK