Mons Pico

Mons Pico
Mons Pico
	Mons Pico (upper left) and Pico β (lower right). Lunar Orbiter 4 image.
Highest point
Elevation	2,450 m
Listing	Lunar mountains
Coordinates	45°42′N8°54′W / 45.7°N 8.9°W
Geography
Location	the Moon

Last updated April 05, 2024

Mons Pico is a solitary lunar mountain that lies in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin, to the south of the dark-floored crater Plato and on the southern rim of a ghost crater.^[1] This peak forms part of the surviving inner ring of the Imbrium basin, continuing to the northwest and with the Montes Teneriffe and Montes Recti ranges, and probably to the southeast with the Montes Spitzbergen. This mountain feature is thought to have been named by Johann Hieronymus Schröter for Pico del Teide on Tenerife.^[2]

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 of the Montes Teneriffe. The mountain itself is a very reflective and bright object.^[1]

Due to its isolated location on the lunar mare, this peak can form prominent shadows when illuminated by oblique sunlight. It is also known as a location of Transient Lunar Anomalies.^[1]

A smaller peak to the southeast of Mons Pico is sometimes called Mons Pico β (Beta).^[3]^[4] This region of the mare contains a number of wrinkle ridges.

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	Latitude	Longitude	Diameter
B	46.5° N	15.3° W	12 km
C	47.2° N	6.6° W	5 km
D	43.4° N	11.3° W	7 km
E	43.0° N	10.3° W	9 km
F	42.2° N	10.2° W	4 km
G	46.6° N	10.4° W	4 km
K	44.6° N	7.5° W	3 km

Pico in fiction

Strange objects appear near Pico in the 1957 science fiction novel Blast Off at Woomera by Hugh Walters; their fate is further expanded upon in the sequels The Domes of Pico and Operation Columbus .

Pico is the site of a climactic space battle in Arthur C. Clarke's novel Earthlight. It is also mentioned in passing in his novel 3001: The Final Odyssey as a storage repository of both biological and computer viruses, and in his short story "The Sentinel" (in which Wilson, the protagonist, mentions having climbed it).^[5]

Pico is mentioned in the Jules Verne novel Around the Moon 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.

Related Research Articles

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.

Archimedes is a large lunar impact crater on the eastern edges of the Mare Imbrium. Its diameter is 81 km.

Carlini is a small lunar impact crater located in the Mare Imbrium. It was named after Italian astronomer Francesco Carlini. The crater is bowl-shaped with a small central floor. It has a higher albedo than the surrounding mare, making it prominent due to its isolated location. To the south is a wrinkle ridge named Dorsum Zirkel, and farther south lies the peak Mons La Hire.

Caventou is a tiny lunar impact crater located in the western part of the Mare Imbrium. It is a circular, cup-shaped formation surrounded by the lunar mare. It was named after French chemist Joseph B. Caventou in 1976. Prior to that, it had the designation La Hire D, being associated with the mountain Mons La Hire to the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huxley (lunar crater)</span> Crater on the Moon

Huxley is a tiny lunar impact crater located in eastern inlet of Mare Imbrium, just to the north of the Montes Apenninus. It was named after British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley. To the southeast in this range is Mons Ampère. This crater was previously identified as Wallace B before being renamed by the IAU. The crater Wallace lies due west.

Plato is a lava-filled lunar impact crater on the Moon. Its diameter is 101 km. It was named after ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It is located on the northeastern shore of the Mare Imbrium, at the western extremity of the Montes Alpes mountain range. In the mare to the south are several rises collectively named the Montes Teneriffe. To the north lies the wide stretch of the Mare Frigoris. East of the crater, among the Montes Alpes, are several rilles collectively named the Rimae Plato.

Montes Alpes is a mountain range in the northern part of the Moon's near side. It was named after the Alps in Europe; the name was confirmed by the International Astronomical Union in 1935. It lies between the selenographic coordinates latitudes 52.81°N and 42.04°N, and longitudes 5.6°W and 3.22°E. The range thus crosses the lunar prime meridian, and is partially illuminated and partially in shadow during first and last quarters. The center of the range is at 48.36°N, 0.58°W, and has a diameter of 334 km.

Santos-Dumont is a small lunar impact crater that lies in the northern end of the Montes Apenninus range at the eastern edge of the Mare Imbrium. It is located about 30 kilometers to the northeast of Mons Hadley, a mountain massif.

Drude is a lunar impact crater that lies on the far side of the Moon, in the rugged Montes Cordillera range that forms the outer ring around the Mare Orientale impact basin. It is located just behind the west-southwest limb, and this area is sometimes brought into sight from Earth during favorable librations. However, even at such times, the crater is viewed from the edge and little detail can be seen.

Kirch is a small lunar impact crater in the eastern part of the Mare Imbrium, a large lunar mare in the northwest quadrant of the Moon. It was named after German astronomer Gottfried Kirch. This is a relatively solitary formation with the nearest comparable crater being Piazzi Smyth to the northeast. Notable features in the vicinity are the Montes Spitzbergen mountains to the south and the solitary peak Mons Piton to the east-northeast. Kirch is circular and bowl-shaped, with a dark interior having the same albedo as the surrounding terrain.

Piazzi Smyth is a small lunar impact crater in the eastern part of the Mare Imbrium. It was named after Scottish astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth. This is an isolated feature located about 100 kilometers to the southwest of the Montes Alpes mountain range. To the southeast of this crater is Mons Piton, an isolated mountain that rises to a height of 2.3 km and occupies a diameter of about 25 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mons Piton</span> Mountain on the Moon

Mons Piton is an isolated lunar mountain that is located in the eastern part of the Mare Imbrium, to the north-northwest of the crater Aristillus. Due east of Mons Piton is the flooded crater Cassini, and to the west-northwest lies Piazzi Smyth. North and northeast of this massif is the Montes Alpes range, forming the northeast edge of the lunar mare.

Mons La Hire is a solitary lunar mountain in the western Mare Imbrium. It is located to the northeast of the crater Euler, and to the west-northwest of Lambert.

Mons Vinogradov is a rugged massif that is located on the lunar mare where Oceanus Procellarum to the southwest joins Mare Imbrium to the east. There are three primary peaks in this formation, which rise to altitudes of 1.0–1.4 km above the surface. To the east of this rise is the crater Euler, and to the southeast is an area of rugged ground that reaches the Montes Carpatus range. The Carpatus mountain range forms the southwest boundary of the Mare Imbrium.

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 (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.

Cassini is a lunar impact crater that is located in the Palus Nebularum, at the eastern end of Mare Imbrium. The crater was named after astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Jacques Cassini. To the northeast is the Promontorium Agassiz, the southern tip of the Montes Alpes mountain range. South by south-east of Cassini is the crater Theaetetus. To the northwest is the lone peak Mons Piton.

Montes Apenninus are a rugged mountain range on the northern part of the Moon's near side. They are named after the Apennine Mountains in Italy. With their formation dating back about 3.9 billion years, Montes Apenninus are fairly old.

Mons is a mountain on a celestial body. The term is used in planetary nomenclature: it is a part of the international names of such features. It is capitalized and usually stands after the proper given name, but stands before it in the case of lunar mountains.

References

1 2 3 North, Gerald (2007). Observing the Moon (Second ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-521-87407-6.
↑ Rükl, Antonín (1996). Atlas of the Moon. Waukesha, Wi.: Kalmbach Publishing Co. p. 48. ISBN 0-913135-17-8.
↑ Bussey, Ben; Spudis, Paul (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon (Revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2.
↑ Rükl, 49.
↑ "2061 Odyssey Three Series, Book 3, Arthur C. Clarke (Audiobook)". YouTube .

External links

LAC-25 Lunar Quadrangle Map with IAU feature names

45°42′N8°54′W / 45.700°N 8.900°W / 45.700; -8.900

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[North_291-1] 1 2 3 North, Gerald (2007). Observing the Moon (Second ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-521-87407-6.

[Rukl_Atlas_48-2] Rükl, Antonín (1996). Atlas of the Moon. Waukesha, Wi.: Kalmbach Publishing Co. p. 48. ISBN 0-913135-17-8.

[Cambridge-3] Bussey, Ben; Spudis, Paul (2004). The Clementine Atlas of the Moon (Revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81528-2.

[Rukl_Atlas_49-4] Rükl, 49.

[5] "2061 Odyssey Three Series, Book 3, Arthur C. Clarke (Audiobook)". YouTube .

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