Sunday, July 31, 2011

Rembrandt Basin


The large Rembrandt basin is evident on the left side of this image, and, in contrast to the relatively darker material surrounding Rembrandt, Amaral crater and its bright rays can be seen on the right. Rembrandt basin is an area of particular scientific interest due to its large size, young age, and extensional and contractional characteristics. In fact, Rembrandt was highlighted in a publication of Science magazine in 2009 and featured on the cover.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's color base map. The color base map is composed of WAC images taken through eight different narrow-band color filters and will cover more than 90% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 1 kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel). The highest-quality color images are obtained for Mercury's surface when both the spacecraft and the Sun are overhead, so these images typically are taken with viewing conditions of low incidence and emission angles.

Date acquired: July 11, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 218833662, 218833682, 218833666
Image ID: 489008 , 489013, 489009
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 9 (1000 nanometers), 7 (750 nanometers), 6 (433 nanometers) as red-green-blue
Center Latitude: -34.67°
Center Longitude: 100.4° E
Resolution: 1853 meters/pixel
Scale: Rembrandt basin has a diameter of 716 kilometers (445 miles).
Incidence Angle: 50.5°
Emission Angle: 0.4°
Phase Angle: 50.5°

Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Slumping Impact Crater


This image shows impact craters of varying size and morphology. The crater with the visible central peak on the southern edge of the image displays spectacular wall slumps, which form when material on the steep walls of the crater collapses. This crater also has secondary craters and ejecta radiating from its center.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's color base map. The color base map is composed of WAC images taken through eight different narrow-band color filters and will cover more than 90% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 1 kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel). The highest-quality color images are obtained for Mercury's surface when both the spacecraft and the Sun are overhead, so these images typically are taken with viewing conditions of low incidence and emission angles.

Date acquired: July 20, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 219691659
Image ID: 529967
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 82.08°
Center Longitude: 103.1° E
Resolution: 85 meters/pixel
Scale: Image is approximately 88 km (55 mi) across.
Incidence Angle: 82.1°
Emission Angle: 0.2°
Phase Angle: 82.1°

Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Thursday, July 14, 2011

A Colorful Mood


This image highlights some of the color features present on Mercury's surface, such as Low Reflectance Material (LRM) and crater rays. Visible in the top left quadrant of this image is the named crater Moody, which has a prominent orange color on its floor in this enhanced color image.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's color base map. The color base map is composed of WAC images taken through eight different narrow-band color filters and will cover more than 90% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 1 kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel). The highest-quality color images are obtained for Mercury's surface when both the spacecraft and the Sun are overhead, so these images typically are taken with viewing conditions of low incidence and emission angles.

Date acquired: July 03, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 218154838, 218154854, 218154834
Image ID: 456233, 456237, 456232
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 9 (1000 nanometers), 7 (750 nanometers), 6 (430 nanometers) as red-green-blue
Center Latitude: -30.86°
Center Longitude: 149.5° E
Resolution: 1712 meters/pixel
Scale: Moody crater is 83 km (~51.5 mi.) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 32.6°
Emission Angle: 0.5°
Phase Angle: 32.8°

Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington