{ "id": "epbqtj573t", "slug": "ushas-mons", "title": "Ushas Mons", "updated": "2026-10-25", "topic_path": [ { "id": "places", "label": "Places and geography", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial", "label": "Extraterrestrial places", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial.surface-features", "label": "Planetary surfaces and named features", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.surface-features" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features", "label": "Venus surface features", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains", "label": "Venus mountains and volcanic structures", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains.mountains-and-mons-on-venus", "label": "Mountains and mons on Venus", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains.mountains-and-mons-on-venus" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains.mountains-and-mons-on-venus", "label": "Non-geographic · Not dated: Mountains and mons on Venus", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains.mountains-and-mons-on-venus", "path": [ { "id": "geo.nongeo", "label": "Non-geographic", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate", "label": "Non-geographic · Not dated", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places", "label": "Places and geography", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial", "label": "Extraterrestrial places", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features", "label": "Planetary surfaces and named features", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features", "label": "Venus surface features", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains", "label": "Venus mountains and volcanic structures", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains.mountains-and-mons-on-venus", "label": "Mountains and mons on Venus", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains.mountains-and-mons-on-venus" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Ushas Mons is a large volcano on the planet Venus, centered at 24.30°S, 324.60°E and measuring 413 km across, named in 1982 for Ushas, the Indian goddess of dawn.", "snippet": "Ushas Mons is a large volcano on the planet Venus, centered at 24.30°S, 324.60°E and measuring 413 km across, named in 1982 for Ushas, the Indian goddess of dawn.", "node": "places.extraterrestrial.surface-features.venus-features.venus-features.volcanic-mountains.mountains-and-mons-on-venus", "markdown": "# Ushas Mons\n\n**Ushas Mons** is a large volcano, of the feature type Mons, montes, on the planet Venus, centered at 24.30°S, 324.60°E and measuring 413.00 km across.[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) The name, adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 1982, honors [Ushas](https://www.edgepedia.org/ushas), the Indian goddess of dawn, following the convention by which Venusian mountains are named after goddesses of various mythologies.[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Target and type | Venus; feature type Mons, montes (Feature ID 6248)[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) |\n| Diameter | 413.00 km[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) |\n| Center coordinates | 24.30°S, 324.60°E (planetocentric, +East, 0–360)[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) |\n| Latitude extent | 23.80°S to 25.20°S; longitude extent 323.10°E to 327.10°E[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) |\n| Name origin | Ushas, Indian goddess of dawn; ethnicity India, continent Asia[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) |\n| IAU approval | Adopted 1982; reference is a letter from G. H. Pettengill to the Venus Task Group, April 27, 1977[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) |\n| Map quadrangle | V-42[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) |\n\n## Location and designation\n\nThe feature lies in the southern hemisphere of Venus, with its boundaries spanning 323.10°E to 327.10°E in longitude and 23.80°S to 25.20°S in latitude in the planetocentric, +East coordinate system.[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) It falls within Venus quadrangle V-42, one of the map sheets for which the USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature provides 1:5 million-scale Magellan radar imagery and 1:10 million-scale color altimetry.[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) The gazetteer notes that the mapped boundaries are approximate and intended only to portray the locations of named features and their rough extents.[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248)\n\n## Naming\n\nThe name was approved by the IAU in 1982, and the recorded reference for the proposal is a letter from G. H. Pettengill to the Venus Task Group dated April 27, 1977.[1](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248) Gordon H. Pettengill was a planetary radio astronomer whose radar work underpinned early Venus topography. Other examples approved in the same theme include [Api Mons](https://www.edgepedia.org/api-mons) (Scythian goddess of earth, 1985) and [Abeona Mons](https://www.edgepedia.org/abeona-mons) (Roman goddess of travelers, 1997).[2](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?Feature+Type=27_Mons%2C+montes&Target=15_Venus)\n\n## Volcanic character\n\nUshas Mons is treated as a large volcano in surveys of Venusian volcanism; a study of large volcanoes on Venus includes a synthetic aperture radar mosaic of the edifice among its figures.[3](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10097440/1/A_study_of_large_volcanoes_and.pdf) Radar imagery from NASA's Magellan spacecraft, which orbited Venus from 1990 to 1994, is the primary data source for studying the planet's surface, since dense clouds block direct viewing.[4](https://www.space.com/astronomy/venus/venus-may-have-an-underground-tunnel-carved-by-volcano-eruptions)\n\nA survey of radar-bright, diffuse-margined deposits on Venus, interpreted as possible pyroclastic mantles from plume-collapse eruptions, identified a new occurrence associated with a ridge belt south of Ushas Mons.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6839737/) Such deposits consist of fragmental material a few centimeters or larger that traveled downhill up to about 100 km on modest slopes and blanketed older lava flows and tectonic features to depths of tens of centimeters to a few meters over areas up to 40×103 km2.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6839737/) The authors propose that these deposits mark the early stage of renewed magmatic activity, in which volatile-rich, disrupted magma escapes through vents in fractured upper crust.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6839737/)\n\n**Infrared contrast.** Ushas Mons differs from some other large Venusian volcanoes in its thermal-emission signature: work based on Venus Express VIRTIS data found enhanced 1.02-µm emissivity, interpreted as evidence for geologically recent eruptions, at [Dione Regio](https://www.edgepedia.org/dione-regio) volcanoes such as Hathor and Innini Montes, whereas Ushas Mons has neither enhanced 1.02-µm emissivity nor radar-bright summit material.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6839737/) The study suggested that radar-bright terrain may play a role in creating such infrared emissivity anomalies.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6839737/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Ushas Mons, Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, USGS Astrogeology Science Center](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6248)\n2. [Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature search results, Mons, montes on Venus, USGS](https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/SearchResults?Feature+Type=27_Mons%2C+montes&Target=15_Venus)\n3. [A Study of Large Volcanoes and their Morphology, University College London](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10097440/1/A_study_of_large_volcanoes_and.pdf)\n4. [Venus may have an underground tunnel carved by volcano eruptions, Space.com](https://www.space.com/astronomy/venus/venus-may-have-an-underground-tunnel-carved-by-volcano-eruptions)\n5. [Campbell, B. A., Morgan, G. A., Whitten, J. L., Carter, L. M., Glaze, L. S., and Campbell, D. B. (2017). Pyroclastic Flow Deposits on Venus as Indicators of Renewed Magmatic Activity. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 122(7), 1580–1596](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6839737/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Extraterrestrial places › Planetary surfaces and named features › Venus surface features › Venus mountains and volcanic structures › Mountains and mons on Venus*\n\n*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/ushas-mons", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/ushas-mons.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Ushas Mons\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/ushas-mons. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Ushas Mons](https://www.edgepedia.org/ushas-mons)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/ushas-mons](https://www.edgepedia.org/ushas-mons). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Ushas Mons\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/ushas-mons. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Ushas Mons is a large volcano on the planet Venus, centered at 24.30°S, 324.60°E and measuring 413 km across, named in 1982 for Ushas, the Indian goddess of dawn." }