Mons Huygens Mons Huygens Mons Huygens is the Moon's tallest mountain (but not its highest point). It is about high and is located in the Montes Apenninus. The Montes Apenninus were formed by the impact that created Mare Imbrium. Adjacent is Mons Ampère to the west. Further west is the crater Huxley. The mountain was named after the Dutch astronomer, mathematician and physician Christiaan Huygens, it was officially named by the IAU in 1961. Mons Huygens is high, about the same height as Aeolis Mons located on Mars in the middle of Gale crater, and taller than Mons Hadley located on the
Olympus Mons gradient and residual heat from the volcano's magma chamber. Potential springs or seeps around the volcano would offer exciting possibilities for detecting microbial life. Olympus Mons and a few other volcanoes in the Tharsis region stand high enough to reach above the frequent Martian dust-storms recorded by telescopic observers as early as the 19th century. The astronomer Patrick Moore pointed out that Schiaparelli (1835–1910) "had found that his "Nodus Gordis" and "Olympic Snow" [Nix Olympica] were almost the only features to be seen" during dust storms, and "guessed correctly that they must be high". The Mariner 9 spacecraft arrived in