This is a list of the tallest mountains in the Solar System. This list includes peaks on all celestial bodies where significant mountains have been detected. For some celestial bodies, different peaks are given across different types of measurement. The solar system's tallest mountain is possibly the Olympus Mons on Mars with an altitude of 21.9 to 26 km. The central peak of Rheasilvia on the asteroid Vesta is also a candidate to be the tallest, with an estimated at up to between 20 and 25 km from peak to base.
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Heights are given from base to peak (although a precise definition for mean base level is lacking). Peak elevations above sea level are only available on Earth, and possibly Titan.[1] On other planets, peak elevations above an equipotential surface or a reference ellipsoid could be used if enough data is available for the calculation, but this is often not the case.
| Planet | class=unsortable | Tallest peak(s) | Base-to-peak height | % of radius | Origin | class=unsortable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caloris Montes | impact[2] | Formed by the Caloris impact | |||||
| Skadi Mons (Maxwell Montes massif) | tectonic[3] | Has radar-bright slopes due to metallic Venus snow, possibly lead sulfide[4] | |||||
| Maat Mons | volcanic[5] | Highest volcano on Venus | |||||
| Earth | Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa | volcanic | NaNmilesNaNmiles of this is above sea level | ||||
| Haleakalā | volcanic | Rises 3.1 km above sea level | |||||
| Pico del Teide | volcanic | Rises 3.7 km above sea level | |||||
| Denali | tectonic | Tallest mountain base-to-peak on land[6] | |||||
| Mount Everest | tectonic | 4.6 km on north face, 3.6 km on south face; highest elevation (8.8 km) above sea level, as well as by wet and dry prominence (but not among the tallest from base to peak, and in distance to Earth's center Mt Chimborazo rises highest). | - | K2 | --> | ||
| Mons Huygens | impact | Formed by the Imbrium impact. | |||||
| Mons Mouton | impact | Possibly formed by the South Pole-Aitken basin impact. | |||||
| Southern Farside Mountain | impact | Informal name of the Moon's tallest free-standing mountain. Possibly formed by the South Pole-Aitken basin impact. Not highest lunar peak by prominence, which would be Selenean summit. | |||||
| Mons Hadley | impact | Formed by the Imbrium impact | |||||
| Mons Rümker | volcanic | Largest volcanic construct on the Moon | |||||
| Olympus Mons | volcanic | Tallest mountain in the Solar System. Rises 26 km above northern plains,[7] (dry prominence) 1000 km away. Summit calderas are 60 x 80 km wide, up to 3.2 km deep;[8] scarp around margin is up to 8 km high.[9] A shield volcano, the mean flank slope is a modest 5.2 degrees. | |||||
| Ascraeus Mons | volcanic | Tallest of the three Tharsis Montes | |||||
| Elysium Mons | volcanic | Highest volcano in Elysium | |||||
| Arsia Mons | volcanic | Summit caldera is NaN108 across | |||||
| Pavonis Mons | volcanic | Summit caldera is NaNmilesNaNmiles deep | |||||
| Anseris Mons | impact | Among the highest nonvolcanic peaks on Mars, formed by the Hellas impact | |||||
| Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp") | deposition and erosion | Formed from deposits in Gale crater;[10] the MSL rover has been ascending it since November 2014.[11] | |||||
| Rheasilvia central peak | impact | Almost 200km (100miles) wide. See also: List of largest craters in the Solar System | |||||
| Ahuna Mons | cryovolcanic[12] | Isolated steep-sided dome in relatively smooth area; max. height of ~ 5 km on steepest side; roughly antipodal to largest impact basin on Ceres | |||||
| Boösaule Montes "South"[13] | tectonic | Has a NaNmilesNaNmiles high scarp on its SE margin[14] | |||||
| Ionian Mons east ridge | tectonic | Has the form of a curved double ridge | |||||
| Euboea Montes | tectonic | A NW flank landslide left a 25,000 km3 debris apron[15] | |||||
| unnamed (245° W, 30° S) | volcanic | One of the tallest of Io's many volcanoes, with an atypical conical form | |||||
| Herschel central peak | impact | See also: List of largest craters in the Solar System | |||||
| Janiculum Dorsa | tectonic | Surrounding crust depressed ca. 0.3 km. | |||||
| Mithrim Montes | tectonic | May have formed due to global contraction[16] | |||||
| Doom Mons | cryovolcanic | Adjacent to Sotra Patera, a NaNmilesNaNmiles deep collapse feature | |||||
| equatorial ridge | uncertain | Individual peaks have not been measured | |||||
| unnamed ("limb mountain") | impact (?) | A value of 6 km was given shortly after the Voyager 2 encounter[17] | |||||
| Tenzing Montes, peak "T2" | tectonic (?) | Composed of water ice;[18] named after Tenzing Norgay[19] | |||||
| Piccard Mons[20] [21] | cryovolcanic (?) | ~220 km across;[22] central depression is 11 km deep | |||||
| Wright Mons | cryovolcanic (?) | ~160 km across; summit depression ~56 km across[23] and 4.5 km deep | |||||
| Butler Mons[24] | tectonic (?) | Vulcan Planitia, the southern plains, has several isolated peaks, possibly tilted crustal blocks | |||||
| Dorothy central peak | impact | North polar impact basin Dorothy, Charon's largest, is ~240 km across and 6 km deep | |||||
| unnamed | ? | Discovered by stellar occultation; it is unclear whether this feature may be a genuine topographic peak or a transiting/occulting satellite.[25] |
The following images are shown in order of decreasing base-to-peak height.