Location Tombaugh Regio, Pluto | Eponym Edmund Hillary | |
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The Hillary Montes /ˈhɪləri ˈmɒntiːz/ (less officially, Hillary Mountains) are mountains that reach 1.6 km (0.99 mi; 5,200 ft) above the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto. They are located northwest of Norgay 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). The Hillary Montes were first viewed by the New Horizons spacecraft on 14 July 2015, and announced by NASA on 24 July 2015. The mountains are named after Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer, who, along with Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer, Tenzing Norgay, were the first climbers to reach the summit of the highest peak on Earth, Mount Everest, on 29 May 1953.
Relative size
The Hillary Montes rise to 1.6 km (0.99 mi; 5,200 ft) high, about half as high as the Norgay Montes. The Hillary Montes are similar in height to that of the peak of Mount Sněžka, the highest mountain in the Czech Republic, above sea level. Other mountains of comparable height (above sea level) are Mount Katahdin in Maine, USA, and Sirumalai in Tamil Nadu, India.