Montes_Apenninus Montes_Apenninus

Montes Apenninus - Definition and Overview

The Apennine Mountains of the Moon.
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The Apennine Mountains of the Moon.

Montes Appenines are a rugged mountain range on the northern part of the Moon's near side. They named for the Apennine Mountains in Italy.

This range forms the southeastern border of the large Mare Imbrium lunar mare. It begins just to the west of the prominent Eratosthenes crater, which is abutted 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 to the south. Further to the west are the Montes Carpatus mountains.

From Eratosthenes, the mountains form an arcing chain that gradually bends from east to northeast, ending at Promontorium Fresnel at about latitude 29.5° N. Here is another gap where the Mare Imbrium to the west joins the Mare Serenitatis to the east. At the north end of this gap lie the Montes Caucasus.

This range contains several mountains that have received names, listed below ranging from west to northeast:

  • Mons Wolf
  • Mons Ampère
  • Mons Huygens
  • Mons Bradley
  • Mons Hadley Delta
  • Mons Hadley

The last two peaks are perhaps most famous for forming the valley where the Apollo 15 mission made its landing.

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 crater. The total length of the range is about 600 km, with some of the peaks rising as high as 5km.

Example Usage of Apenninus

Astronomer_Dave: Moon imaged this evening, "Montes Apenninus and Plato" 25/11/2009, 18:36UT. 8" Meade + DSI-II http://ow.ly/i/9dm
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