How High? (Is Olympus Mons)
Illustration of Olympus Mons. Image Credits: NASA/MOLA Science Team/O. de Goursac, Adrian Lark
We've all probably heard about Olympus Mons, but grasping its sheer size is another matter.
Looming at 72,000 feet, Olympus Mons - who calls Mars its home - is the largest volcano in the Solar System. It stands three times the height of Mount Everest, twice the height of Mauna Kea, is 600km (370 miles) wide, and has six calderas overlapping each other. Still don't think it's big? It basically sticks out of the top of Mars' atmosphere.
It may be enormous, but its infrastructure is familiar. It's a shield volcano, similar to the Hawaiian Islands (although it dwarfs their size as you can see in the illustration below).
Image Credit: Online Star Registrar
Don't be fooled into thinking you'd notice a towering peak, however. Quite the opposite. According to Wikipedia:
Due to the size and shallow slopes of Olympus Mons, an observer standing on the Martian surface would be unable to view the entire profile of the volcano, even from a great distance. The curvature of the planet and the volcano itself would obscure such a synoptic view. Similarly, an observer near the summit would be unaware of standing on a very high mountain, as the slope of the volcano would extend far beyond the horizon, a mere 3 kilometers away.
