Mountains on the Moon: How to See Them

Mountains on the Northern Half of the Moon Sky Map

The northern half of the moon exhibits many mountain ranges and a few isolated peaks (Image credit: Starry Night Software)

It's time to spot some mountains on the moon.

When you look at the moon through binoculars or a small telescope, the first thing you notice is that the lunar surface is divided into two distinct forms of terrain: large dark flat plains and bright mountainous highlands. Both of these are pockmarked by an enormous number of craters of all sizes.

Early observers of the moon assumed that the large flat plains were seas, not knowing that liquid water was not available on the dry, airless surface of the moon, and so named them "maria," the Latin for "seas," singular "mare." [See 45 Apollo Moon Missions in Photos]

"Mare" is pronounced "mah-ray," not like a female horse. They named the lunar highlands for the mountains of Earth, not knowing that the mountains of the moon were formed by a totally different process.

The moon has neither tectonic plates nor volcanic action. Virtually all of its mountains are the result of impacts by asteroids in the distant past. Early in the moon’s history, there were many gigantic asteroids in the solar system.

The mountain ranges and individual mountains are labeled with their Latin names, "montes" for mountain ranges and "mons" for individual mountains. Far over to the east are the Taurus Mountains (Montes Taurus), the landing place of the last of the manned lunar explorers, Apollo 17.

Two major mountain ranges divide two other features of the lunar landscape.The Mare Serenitatis ("Sea of Serenity") is separated from the Mare Imbrium ("Sea of Showers") by the Montes Caucasus to the north and the Montes Apenninus to the south. Where these two meet is the prominent mountain Mons Hadley, named for British optician and instrument maker John Hadley (1682–1743). Apollo 15 landed here in July 1971. The lunar Alps, the Montes Alpes, sweep off to the northwest, enclosing the perfect oval crater, Plato.

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Geoff Gaherty was Space.com's Night Sky columnist and in partnership with Starry Night software and a dedicated amateur astronomer who sought to share the wonders of the night sky with the world. Based in Canada, Geoff studied mathematics and physics at McGill University and earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Toronto, all while pursuing a passion for the night sky and serving as an astronomy communicator. He credited a partial solar eclipse observed in 1946 (at age 5) and his 1957 sighting of the Comet Arend-Roland as a teenager for sparking his interest in amateur astronomy. In 2008, Geoff won the Chant Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, an award given to a Canadian amateur astronomer in recognition of their lifetime achievements. Sadly, Geoff passed away July 7, 2016 due to complications from a kidney transplant, but his legacy continues at Starry Night.