Which Venusian mountain range is named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell?

The Venusian mountain range named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell is Maxwell Montes.

Maxwell Montes is located in Ishtar Terra, one of Venus’s two major highland regions. It rises about 11 kilometers above the planet’s average surface level and extends across a broad mountainous area near Lakshmi Planum. Its western slopes are especially steep, while its eastern side descends more gradually toward Fortuna Tessera.

The name honors James Clerk Maxwell because his work on electromagnetism helped establish the scientific foundation for radio waves and radar. Radar was crucial to mapping Venus, whose dense cloud cover blocks ordinary views of the surface. Earth-based radar observations first revealed the highland, and spacecraft later refined its shape and elevation.

Most Venusian surface features are named for goddesses or other female figures, making Maxwell Montes an unusual exception. The other major mountain ranges in Ishtar Terra include Akna Montes, Danu Montes and Freyja Montes, whose names follow the more typical Venusian naming tradition.