Montes Jura is a mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 range in the northwest part of the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 (of the side that we see). The selenographic coordinates of this range are 47.1° N 34.0° W, and it has a diameter of 422 km. They were named after the Jura Mountains

Jura mountains

The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...

 in western Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

This range of mountains form a visually pleasing semi-circular ring around the Sinus Iridum

Sinus Iridum

Sinus Iridum is a plain of basaltic lava that forms a northwestern extension to the Mare Imbrium. It is surrounded from the northeast to the southwest by the Montes Jura range. The protruding part of the range at the southwest end is named Promontorium Heraclides, while that at the northeast end...

, a bay along the northwestern edge of Mare Imbrium

Mare Imbrium

Mare Imbrium, Latin for "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains", is a vast lunar mare filling a basin on Earth's Moon and one of the larger craters in the Solar System. Mare Imbrium was created when lava flooded the giant crater formed when a very large object hit the Moon long ago...

. The protruding part of the range at the southwestern end is named Promontorium Heraclides, while that at the northeast end is called Promontorium Laplace. As the terminator advances near this range, the peaks of this range catch the sunlight at their tops. This produces a string of bright points that have been described as the 'jewelled handle' effect.

In the distant past this range once formed the outer wall of a crater about 260 km in diameter. The southeast face of this crater was then removed and the interior flooded with basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

ic lava

Lava

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

. As a result the side of the range facing the mare ends in the nearly level plains, which the opposite side merges with a region of rough and irregular terrain.

The only crater of note in this range is Bianchini

Bianchini (lunar crater)

Bianchini is a lunar crater that lies besides the northern Jura Mountains that ring the Sinus Iridum, in the northwestern part of the Moon. The impact of this crater near the edge of the Jura Mountains pushed some material into the Sinus Iridum floor....

, which lies across the north-northwestern portion of the curve. A little farther to the west is Sharp

Sharp (crater)

Sharp is a lunar impact crater located to the west of the Sinus Iridum bay of the Mare Imbrium, beyond the Montes Jura range. To the southwest is the crater Mairan. Because of its location and foreshortening, Sharp appears elliptical whereas the crater rim is actually circular.Sharp is surrounded...

, and to the northeast is the ruined crater Maupertuis

Maupertuis (crater)

Maupertuis is the remnant of a lunar impact crater that is located in the northern part of the Moon's near side. It lies in the stretch of rugged terrain north of Sinus Iridum, a bay in the northwestern corner of Mare Imbrium...

.