List of tallest mountains in the Solar System facts for kids

Olympus Mons, the tallest mountain on a planet in our Solar System, compared to Earth's Mount Everest and Mauna Kea.

Welcome to a journey across our amazing Solar System! Here, we'll explore the tallest mountains found on different planets, moons, and even asteroids. These incredible peaks are measured from their base to their highest point. Scientists have found many huge mountains on various space objects.

The tallest mountain in our Solar System might be Olympus Mons on Mars. It stands an incredible 21.9 to 26 kilometers (13.6 to 16.2 miles) high! Another contender for the tallest is the central peak of Rheasilvia on the asteroid Vesta, which is estimated to be between 19 and 22 kilometers (11.8 to 13.7 miles) tall from its base.

A Tour of Solar System Peaks

The heights listed here are measured from the bottom of the mountain (its base) all the way to its very top (its peak). On Earth, we often measure mountains from sea level, but in space, there's no "sea level" on most planets! So, for other planets and moons, scientists measure from the mountain's base.

Other Notable Tall Peaks

Here's another list of some of the tallest mountains by their elevation, which is how high they reach.

• Olympus Mons 72,000 ft (22,000 m)
• Equatorial Ridge 65,617 ft (20,000 m)
• Boösaule Mons 59,711 ft (18,200 m)
• Ascraeus Mons 49,000 ft (15,000 m)
• Ionian Mons east ridge 41,667 ft (12,700 m)
• Elysium Mons 41,338 ft (12,600 m)
• Arsia Mons 38,386 ft (11,700 m)
• Limb Mountain 36,089 ft (11,000 m)
• Skadi Mons 35,105 ft (10,700 m)
• Euboea Montes 34,449 ft (10,500 m)
• Mauna Kea 33,500 ft (10,200 m)
• Mount Everest 29,029 ft (8,848 m)
• Herschel Peak 22,966 ft (7,000 m)
• Anseris Mons 20,341 ft (6,200 m)
• Tenzing Montes 20,341 ft (6,200 m)
• Denali/Mount McKinley 20,310 ft (6,190 m)
• Mount Kilimanjaro 19,341 ft (5,895 m)
• Mons Huygens 18,045 ft (5,500 m)
• Aeolis Mons 18,045 ft (5,500 m)
• Piccard Mons 18,045 ft (5,500 m)
• Maat Mons 16,076 ft (4,900 m)
• Wright Mons 15,420 ft (4,700 m)
• Mons Hadley 14,764 ft (4,500 m)
• Butler Mons 14,764 ft (4,500 m)
• Ahuna Mons 13,500 ft (4,100 m)
• Dorothy Peak 13,123 ft (4,000 m)
• Mithrim Montes 10,948 ft (3,337 m)
• Haleakala 10,023 ft (3,055 m)
• Caloris Montes 9,843 ft (3,000 m)
• Io (unnamed peak) 8,202 ft (2,500 m)
• Janiculum Dorsa 4,921 ft (1,500 m)
• Doom Mons 4,757 ft (1,450 m)
• Mons Rümker 4,265 ft (1,300 m)

Gallery

The following images are shown in order of decreasing base-to-peak height.

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  Olympus Mons on Mars as viewed from Viking 1 in 1978

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  Cassini image of Iapetus's equatorial ridge

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  Voyager 1 photo of Io's highest peak, Boösaule Montes "South"

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  Ascraeus Mons (THEMIS IR with MOLA altimetry, 3x vertical stretch), Mars

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  Io's Euboea Montes (below top left), Haemus Montes (lower right); north is left

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  Mauna Kea (from Mauna Loa), Hawaii

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  Teide, Canary Islands

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  Cassini photo of Herschel crater on Mimas and its central peak

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  Magellan SAR image of Skadi Mons in Venus's Maxwell Montes

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  Denali (Mount McKinley), Alaska

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  Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), Mars (as viewed by the rover Curiosity on 6 August 2012).

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  Maat Mons, Venus (radar imaging plus altimetry, 10x vertical exaggeration)

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  The Moon's Mons Hadley, near the Apollo 15 landing site (1971)

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  Mount Everest (Sagarmāthā/ Chomolungma), Nepal/Tibet

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  Ahuna Mons on Ceres, imaged by Dawn from LAMO

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  Pluto's possible cryovolcano Wright Mons, showing its central depression

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  New Horizons view of Pluto's Tenzing Montes in the left foreground (also in preceding image) and Hillary Montes on the horizon

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  Cassini SAR image of Titan's Mithrim Montes, showing three parallel ridges

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  Radar-generated view of Titan's cryovolcanic Doom Mons and Sotra Patera (10x vertical stretch)

See also

• List of extraterrestrial volcanoes
• List of highest mountains on Earth
• List of Solar System extremes
  • List of largest craters in the Solar System
  • List of largest lakes and seas in the Solar System
  • List of largest rifts, canyons and valleys in the Solar System
• List of mountains on Mars
• Mons (planetary nomenclature)
• Topographic prominence