Visit Our Solar System’s Tallest Mountains

Research

IIf you're an adrenaline junkie chasing breathtaking views, consider conquering these unprecedented peaks – but it will be real hike to get there. The highest mountains in the Solar System are found on planets, moons, and asteroids not called Earth. Some of these extraterrestrial treks put Mount Everest, which rises nearly 30,000 feet, or about 5.5 miles, above sea level to shame.

Learn about some of the solar system's tallest peaks ever discovered, which can be a challenge for even Earth's toughest climbers.

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IO: Map of Io's surface. Credit:NASA/JPL/USGS.

On Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanically active world in the solar system, you'll find the Ionian Mountain. Its height is rated at almost 8 miles. In general, scientists discovered more than 130 mountain structures on Io and hundreds of areas associated with volcanic activity.

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Also on Io is Mount Boosaule Montes. reaches maximum at an altitude of about 10.9 miles. His named after the cave where Io, lover of the Greek god Zeus and namesake of the Moon, gave birth to her son Epaphus.

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IAPET: The walnut-shaped moon Iapetus has an impressive equatorial ridge. Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

Saturn's third largest moon, Iapetus, contains equatorial ridge with peaks reaching heights of approximately 12 miles, more than twice the height of Mount Everest, but this moon almost 650 times smaller than our planet. This ridge surrounding Iapetus makes the moon look like a huge walnut.

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ASKREUS MONS: The huge volcano Askrey Mons, which is located on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University..

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The Ascraeus Mons volcano looms on Mars about 11 miles high. Meanwhile, Earth's tallest volcano, Mauna Kea, is 6.2 miles long from its base below sea level to its summit.

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VESTA: Three-dimensional view of the asteroid Vesta. Credit: NASA

About 1 billion years ago an asteroid crashed into the huge asteroid Vesta. The result was a crater approximately 311 miles in diameter, occupying much of Vesta's limited real estate. At the center of this crater, called Rheasilvia, a peak of uplifted material rises about 14 miles above the lowest point of the crater on its floor.

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OLYMPUS MONS: The photo shows Mount Everest and Mauna Kea. Mount Olympus takes first place due to its staggering height. Photo: Resident Mario/Wikimedia commons.

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Finally, Mount Olympus is the most massive known peak in our cosmic environment. It's hard to understand towering at altitudes up to approximately 16 miles. It is about 374 miles wide, roughly the size of the state of Arizona.

If you're heading towards one of these formidable objects, be sure to take plenty of water and oxygen with you.

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Main image: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Scientific Visualization Studio.

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