Ishtar Terra is one of the three continental regions on the planet Venus, the others being

Aphrodite Terra Aphrodite Terra is one of the three continental regions on the planet Venus, the others being Ishtar Terra and Lada Terra. It is named for Aphrodite, the Greek equivalent of the goddess Venus, and is found near the equator of the planet. Aphrod ...

and Lada Terra. It is a highland region named after the Akkadian goddess

Ishtar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...

, and is found in the north of the planet. In size, it is roughly between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

, making it the second-largest of the terrae. On its eastern edge lies the great

mountain chain A mountain chain is a row of high mountain summits, a linear sequence of interconnected or related mountains,Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, p 87. . or a contiguous ridge of mountains within a larger m ...

Maxwell Montes Maxwell Montes is a mountain massif on the planet Venus, of which a peak ( Skadi Mons) is the highest point on the planet's surface. General description Located on Ishtar Terra, the more northern of the planet's two major highlands, Maxwell ...

, which is about high, compared to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

at . On one side of the mountain chain is the

impact crater An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact crater ...

Cleopatra Patera, in diameter filled with

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

. Ishtar Terra contains the four main mountain ranges of Venus: Maxwell Montes on the eastern edge, Freyja Montes in the north,

Akna Montes Akna Montes are a mountain range on Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (l ...

on the western edge, and

Danu Montes Danu is an ancient Scythian word meaning ''"river"''. The commonly proposed etymology of the names of the Danube River, Dnieper River, Dniester River, Don River, and Donets River. Danu may also refer to: Mythology * A water goddess in the Indo-Eu ...

in the southern region. These surround the lower plain of Ishtar Terra, which is named

Lakshmi Planum Lakshmi Planum is a plateau feature approximately 2 million sq km ringed by rugged mountains, the surface of Venus on the Western Ishtar Terra. It is named after Lakshmi, the Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hind ...

(after the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

goddess

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

). Ishtar Terra also contains

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

es named after famous women: Sacajawea and

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

. Ishtar Terra is also the site of many

tesserae A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus. Historical tesserae The oldest known tessera ...

, made by tectonic deformation.

References

External links

* *IRISP Research Projects https://web.archive.org/web/20060511172654/http://irsps.sci.unich.it/research/projects/venus/ishtar/ *WPT http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/captions/venus/perspect.htm *Funky Science https://web.archive.org/web/20070318150841/http://www.funkyscience.net/imagebank/channel_ishtar.html
NASA Map of Venus:
Surface features of Venus Inanna {{Venus-stub

See also

References

External links