Olympus Mons, an extinct volcano on Mars, is often quoted as the highest mountain in the Solar System, at a height of 21.9km (two and a half times the height of Everest). However, the mountain peak in the centre of the Rheasilvia crater on the asteroid Vesta, at about 22.5km, appears to be marginally taller. We don’t know for sure because of difficulties in defining the mountains’ ‘base’ heights, and uncertainties in measurements.
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