Skadi Mons

Skadi Mons
Map of Maxwell Montes with Skadi Mons labeled
Feature typeMountain
LocationCentral Ishtar Terra, Venus
Coordinates64°N 4°E / 64°N 4°E / 64; 4[1]
Peak
  • 6.4 km (4.0 mi) 20,997 ft (6,400 m)
  • 10.7 km (6.6 mi) 35,105 ft (10,700 m) above mean.
EponymSkadi

Skadi Mons /ˈskɑːði ˈmɒnz/ is a mountain on Venus in Maxwell Montes, at the center of Ishtar Terra. It is the highest point on the planet,[2] with an altitude of about 10,700 meters (about 35,000 feet) above the mean planetary radius.[3]

As the highest mountain of the Maxwell Montes and Venus altogether it is the coolest (about 380 °C or 716 °F) and least pressurised (about 45 bar or 44 atm) location on the surface of Venus.[4][5]

It is named after Skaði, the norse goddess of skiing (Öndurdís).[6] The word means "damage" or "shadow", being related to the name Scandinavia and maybe the underworld.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Skadi Mons". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. ^ Beall, Abigail (2020-01-16). "Race to Venus: What we'll discover on Earth's toxic twin". BBC Science Focus Magazine. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  3. ^ Warren, Haygen (2021-07-14). "Previewing EnVision: ESA's newest mission to Venus". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
  4. ^ Basilevsky A. T., Head J. W. (2003). "The surface of Venus". Reports on Progress in Physics. 66 (10): 1699–1734. Bibcode:2003RPPh...66.1699B. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/66/10/R04.
  5. ^ McGill G. E.; Stofan E. R.; Smrekar S. E. (2010). "Venus tectonics". In T. R. Watters; R. A. Schultz (eds.). Planetary Tectonics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 81–120. ISBN 978-0-521-76573-2. Archived from the original on 2016-06-23. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  6. ^ "Skadi Mons". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. Archived from the original on 16 September 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. ^ John McKinnell (2005). Meeting the other in Norse myth and legend. Ds Brewer. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-84384-042-8.