Ahuna Mons

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Ahuna Mons
250px
The mountain imaged by the Dawn spacecraft. North is down.
Location Ceres
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Peak about 4 km (2 mi or 13,000 ft) high[1]
Discoverer Dawn spacecraft team
2015
Eponym Ahuna, harvest festival of the Sumi Naga from India.

Ahuna Mons[2] is the largest mountain on the dwarf planet and asteroid Ceres. Its nature is unknown: it protrudes above otherwise smooth terrain, it is not an impact feature, and it appears to be the only mountain of its kind on Ceres. Bright streaks run top to bottom on its slopes; these streaks are thought to be salt, similar to the better known Cererian bright spots,[3] and likely resulted from cryovolcanic activity from Ceres's interior.[4] It is named after the traditional post-harvest festival Ahuna of the Sumi Naga people of India.

The mountain was discovered on images taken by the Dawn spacecraft in orbit around Ceres in 2015.[5] It is estimated to have an average height of about 4 km (2 mi) and a maximum height of about 5 km (3 mi), or 16,000 feet, on its steepest side; it is about 20 km (12 mi) wide at the base.[1]

Gallery

  • PIA19578-Ceres-DwarfPlanet-Dawn-2ndMappingOrbit-image10-20150614-rotated180.jpg

    Ceres viewed by Dawn. The north face of Ahuna Mons projects above the center of the limb. North is down.

  • PIA19574-Ceres-DwarfPlanet-Dawn-2ndMappingOrbit-image6-20150606-crop300to400.jpg

    Context view of the mountain surrounded by lightly cratered terrain. Bright spots on Ceres can be seen at 11:00. North is up.

  • PIA19618-Ceres-PyramidShapedMountain-Dawn-20150806.jpg

    Computer-generated image of the north face of Ahuna Mons. Vertical dimension is exaggerated by a factor of five.

  • Context view of Ahuna Mons (upper left)
    (28 September 2015).

  • Context view of Ahuna Mons (upper right)
    (14 October 2015).

  • Close-up view
    (20 March 2016).

255px
Overhead view
500px
Side view
Overhead view
Side view
3D view

Animations

Ceres flyover animations
Surface features exaggerated
(simulated; 01:15; 8 June 2015)[6]
Focus on Occator Crater
(false colors; 01:12; 9 December 2015)
Flight over dwarf planet Ceres
(color; 03:43; 29 January 2016)

See also

References

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External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature – Ahuna Mons
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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