Hillary Montes

The Hillary Montes /ˈhɪləri ˈmɒntiːz/ or /ˈmɒnteɪz/ (less officially, Hillary Mountains) are a mountain range that reach 3.5 km (2.2 mi; 11,000 ft) above the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto.^[1] They are located northwest of Tenzing Montes in the southwest border area of Sputnik Planitia in the south of Tombaugh Regio (or the part of Tombaugh Regio south of the equator).^[2][3] The Hillary Montes were first viewed by the New Horizons spacecraft on 14 July 2015, and announced by NASA on 24 July 2015.^[4]

Hillary Montes

The Hillary Montes as viewed by New Horizons on 14 July 2015
Feature type	Mountain range
Location	Western Sputnik Planitia, Pluto
Coordinates	5°N 170°E
Peak	3.5±0.4 km (2.2±0.2 mi)[1]
Discoverer	New Horizons
Eponym	Edmund Hillary

Naming

The mountains are named after Sir Edmund Hillary,^[5][6] New Zealand mountaineer, who, along with Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, were the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953.^[7] On 7 September 2017, the name Hillary Montes was officially approved together with the names of Tombaugh Regio and twelve other nearby surface features.^[8]

Relative size

The Hillary Montes rise to 3.5 km (2.2 mi; 11,000 ft) high from base to peak,^[1] about half as high as the Tenzing Montes.

Gallery

• 
  Pluto - map features
  (context; 29 July 2015).

• 
  Pluto – Hillary Montes and Tenzing Montes
  (context; 14 July 2015)
• 
  Hillary Montes and Tenzing Montes
  (context; 14 July 2015)
• 
  Hillary Montes and Tenzing Montes on Pluto
  (context; 14 July 2015).^[2]

Pluto - Tenzing Montes (left foreground); Hillary Montes (skyline); Sputnik Planitia (right)
Near-sunset view includes several layers of atmospheric haze.

Videos

Pluto flyover (14 July 2015)

(00:30; released 18 September 2015)

(00:50; released 5 December 2015)

See also

• Solar System portal

• Geography of Pluto
• Geology of Pluto
• List of geological features on Pluto
• List of tallest mountains in the Solar System

Notes

References

1. Schenk, P. M.; Beyer, R. A.; McKinnon, W. B.; Moore, J. M.; Spencer, J. R.; White, O. L.; Singer, K.; Nimmo, F.; Thomason, C.; Lauer, T. R.; Robbins, S.; Umurhan, O. M.; Grundy, W. M.; Stern, S. A.; Weaver, H. A.; Young, L. A.; Smith, K. E.; Olkin, C. (2018). "Basins, fractures and volcanoes: Global cartography and topography of Pluto from New Horizons". Icarus. 314: 400–433. Bibcode:2018Icar..314..400S. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2018.06.008. S2CID 126273376.
2. Gipson, Lillian (24 July 2015). "New Horizons Discovers Flowing Ices on Pluto". NASA. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
3. Messier, Doug (24 July 2015). "Fly Over Pluto's Icy Plains & Hillary Mountains". Parabolicarc.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
4. Staff (17 July 2015). "NASA - Video (01:20) - Animated Flyover of Pluto's Icy Mountain and Plains". NASA & YouTube. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
5. Staff (25 July 2015). "Pluto mountain range named after Sir Edmund Hillary". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
6. Staff (24 July 2015). "NASA names Pluto's mountains after Sir Edmund Hillary". Television New Zealand. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
7. Pokhrel, Rajan (19 July 2015). "Nepal's mountaineering fraternity happy over Pluto mountains named after Tenzing Norgay Sherpa - Nepal's First Landmark In The Solar System". The Himalayan Times. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
8. "Pluto Features Given First Official Names". NASA. 7 September 2017.

External links

• NASA Pluto factsheet
• NASA Official homepage
• New Horizons homepage