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Moon Mountains

What to look for through the telescope

  1. Recommended eyepiece: 26mm or 40mm

Mountains Information

  1. Mountains on the moon were formed very differently from the mountains on Earth.

  2. Mountains on Earth are formed when two plates meet; one can be forced to go over the other (as is the case with the Cascade mountains in the Western United States); or they can scrunch up as in the case of the Himalayas in Asia. This is because Earth is an active world with plate tectonics.

  3. The Moon has no plate tectonics. Lunar mountains are the rims of ancient large craters. Part of the rims and crater floors were covered by lava billions of years ago.
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Pyrenees Mountains
Longitude 41° E Best Seen 5-day old moon
Latitude 14° S Diameter 200 miles north-south
Height 2.0 miles (10,800 feet)

Pyrenees Mountains Information

  1. This feature is more of a scarp or extended cliff than a mountain range.
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Alps
Longitude 0° E Best Seen 7-day old moon
Latitude 49° N Length
Height 1.1 - 2.5 miles
(6,000 - 14,000 feet)

Alps Mountains Information

  1. Height: averages 1 mile, but rises to 2.5 miles in some places

  2. This is a gigantic irregular cliff with its lower side on the Mare Nectaris side.

  3. The highest peaks are found in the western section.
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Caucaus Mountains
Longitude 8° E Best Seen 7-day old moon
Latitude 36° N Length
Height 3.2 miles (17,000 feet)

Caucaus Mountains Information

-- none --
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Haemus Mountains
Longitude 14° E Best Seen 7-day old moon
Latitude 16° N Length
Height 1.9 miles (10,000 feet)

Haemus Mountains Information

  1. The peaks here are not really peaks but rather truncated stumps. The peaks were probably much higher in the past.
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Apennine Mountains
Longitude 20° W Best Seen 9-day old moon
Latitude 20° N Length 450 miles
Height

Apennine Mountains Information

  1. They rise through a series of rolling foothills.
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Carpathian Mountains
Longitude 24° W Best Seen 9-day old moon
Latitude 15° N Length ~200 miles
Height 1.25 miles (6,600 feet)

Carpathian Mountains Information

  1. These mountains appear to be a continuation of the Apennines except for a gap of some 60 miles to the west of Eratosthenes. They may have constituted the original southern wall of Mare Imbrium.
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