Ahuna Mons

Ahuna Mons
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Ahuna Mons imaged by the Dawn spacecraft.[a]
Feature typeCryovolcanic dome
LocationCeres
Coordinates10°28′S 315°48′E / 10.46°S 315.8°E / -10.46; 315.8
Peak4.1 km (2.5 mi) 13,500 ft (4,100 m)[1]
DiscovererDawn spacecraft team
2015
EponymAhuna, harvest festival of the Sümi Naga people.

Ahuna Mons[2] (/əˈhuːnə ˈmɒnz/) is the largest mountain on the dwarf planet and asteroid Ceres. It protrudes above the cratered terrain, is not an impact feature, and is the only mountain of its kind on Ceres. Bright streaks run top to bottom on its slopes which 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 Sümi Naga people of India. In July 2018, NASA released a comparison of physical features, including Ahuna Mons, found on Ceres with similar ones present on Earth.[5]


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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference PIA20348 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature – Ahuna Mons
  3. ^ Stone, Maddie (1 October 2015). "Ceres' Mysterious Bright Spots Aren't Made of Ice After All". Gizmodo. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  4. ^ Burnham, Robert (15 December 2015). "Deep freeze puts the squeeze on dwarf planet Ceres". Arizona State University. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  5. ^ Landau, Elizabeth; McCartney, Gretchen (24 July 2018). "What Looks Like Ceres on Earth?". NASA. Retrieved 25 July 2018.