Thursday, March 15, 2012

Derain Crater


This image, taken with the Wide Angle Camera (WAC), gives us a close-up look at Derain crater. Named for the twentieth century French artist André Derain, this crater was first viewed during MESSENGER's second flyby. Its unique dark collar is made up of low-reflectance material (LRM) exposed during the impact that formed the crater; this material is some of the darkest identified on Mercury and may have a mineralogical composition that is different from the surrounding terrain.

Date acquired: February 10, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 237382607
Image ID: 1377852
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 5 (628 nanometers)
Center Latitude: -8.97°
Center Longitude: 19.19° E
Resolution: 501 meters/pixel
Scale: Derain crater is 190 km (118 miles) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 8.9°
Emission Angle: 51.4°
Phase Angle: 55.1°

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

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