Picture: Asteroid Has Mountain Three Times as Tall as Everest
New view shows huge peak on Vesta's south polar region.
The unexpected peak rises from the center of a crater in the asteroid's south polar region. The mountain is about 13 miles (22 kilometers) high and spreads about 112 miles (180 kilometers) at its base.
By contrast, the biggest known mountain in the solar system, Mars's Olympus Mons, stands 16 miles (25 kilometers) high and spreads 374 miles (624 kilometers).
"Vesta is full of surprises, and no more so than in the southern polar region," Paul Schenk, a Dawn participating scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Texas, said today during a press briefing.
"We had indications before arrival that the south polar region was going to be interesting," Schenk added. For instance, "Hubble pictures show a dimple there, but at
