How do scientists determine the elevations of mountains and other topography on the Moon Mars and other places where there is no sea level as the reference point

Published: June 22, 2009

This image shows a partial view of Earth as well as the Moon in the background.

Photo by JPL/NASA

Elsewhere in the solar system, where there are no standing bodies of water, we normally use the planet or moon's average radius as a reference for measuring elevation.

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