Montes Alpes is a mountain range in the northern part of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

's near side. It was named after the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

; the name was confirmed by the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

in 1935. It lies between the

selenographic coordinates The selenographic coordinate system is used to refer to locations on the surface of Earth's moon. Any position on the lunar surface can be referenced by specifying two numerical values, which are comparable to the latitude and longitude of Earth. ...

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.

Description

Montes Alpes LRO Line Trace With Elevations

This range forms the northeastern border of the

Mare Imbrium Mare Imbrium (Latin ''imbrium'', the "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains", "Sea of Tears") is a vast lava plain within the Imbrium Basin on the Moon and is one of the larger craters in the Solar System. The Imbrium Basin formed from the colli ...

lunar mare The lunar maria (; singular: mare ) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient asteroid impacts on the far side on the Moon that triggered volcanic activity on the opposite (near) side. They were dubbed , Latin for 'seas' ...

. To the west of the range is the level and nearly featureless mare, while on the eastern face is a more rugged continental area with a higher

albedo Albedo (; ) is the measure of the diffuse reflection of sunlight, solar radiation out of the total solar radiation and measured on a scale from 0, corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation, to 1, corresponding to a body ...

. The range begins about one crater diameter northwest of the crater Cassini, at the Promontorium Agassiz, then stretches about 280 kilometres to the northwest and continues in intermittent fashion and the mountains proper end shy of one crater length from the eastern rim of the dark-floored crater

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

. The system of

rille Rille (German for 'groove') is typically used to describe any of the long, narrow depressions in the surface of the Moon that resemble channels. The Latin term is ''rima'', plural ''rimae''. Typically, a rille can be several kilometers wid ...

s named Rimae Plato may be found in between the eastern edge of Plato and the western edge of the Alpes mountains. The peaks of the Alpes range in height from 1,800m to 2,400m. The Alpes range was part of the middle ring of the multi-ringed Imbrium Basin. The other mountain ranges around the Imbrium Basin (

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 n ...

Montes Apenninus 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. Descri ...

, and

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 by astronomer J ...

) were part of the outer ring. The Alpes, being part of the middle ring, thus have a shorter radius to the center of Imbrium than the other ranges of the basin. The northwestern third of the range is separated from the remainder of the mountains by the

Vallis Alpes Vallis Alpes (Latin for "Alpine Valley") is a lunar valley feature that bisects the Montes Alpes range. It extends 166 km from the Mare Imbrium basin, trending east-northeast to the edge of the Mare Frigoris. The valley is narrow at both end ...

, a wide rift valley that extends from a narrow cleft in the Montes Alpes to the northeast, reaching the edge of the

Mare Frigoris Mare Frigoris (Latin ''frīgōris'', the "Sea of Cold") is a lunar mare in the far north of the Moon. It is located in the outer rings of the Procellarum basin, just north of Mare Imbrium, and stretches east to north of Mare Serenitatis. It is ju ...

. The total length of this formation is about 166 km, and it reaches a maximum width of 10 km. Running down the center of this valley is a narrow cleft which is not observable through smaller telescopes.Rükl, 199. Sunrise and sunset in this area occur before the respective lunar quarters. About one-third the length of the range from the southeast is

Mons Blanc Mont Blanc is a mountain in the Montes Alpes range on the Moon. It is located on the western edge of the range, near the shore of Mare Imbrium, at . Its width is about 25 kilometers; the height is 3.7–3.8 km above adjacent plains of Mare ...

, a peak rising to a height of 3.6 km. This compares to a typical height of peaks in this range of 1.8 to 2.4 km. Midway between Mons Blanc and

Promontorium Agassiz Promontorium Agassiz is a mountainous cape situated on the northeast margin of Mare Imbrium on the near side of the Moon. Its selenographic coordinates are 42.4° N, 1.77° E. It is located south of Promontorium Deville and Mons Blanc, northea ...

Promontorium Deville Promontorium Deville is a mountainous cape situated on the northeast margin of Mare Imbrium on the near side of the Moon. Its selenographic coordinates are 43.31° N, 1.14° E. It is located north of Promontorium Agassiz, south of Mont Blanc, ...

. To the southwest of Promontorium Agassiz is the isolated

Mons Piton 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 ...

, a peak rising to a height of 2.3 km. Blanc, Piton, and the Montes Teneriffe make up part of the inner ring of the Imbrium Basin.

References

External links

Montes Alpes at The Moon Wiki
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpes Montes Mountains on the Moon

Description

See also

References

External links