Hesiod Crater

The crater at the western corner of this image is Hesiod. The northern and eastern parts of Hesiod's rim are marked by irregular depressions. These depressions are thought to be vents from which explosive (pyroclastic) volcanic eruptions originated. The high-reflectance areas on the wall of the crater just to the northeast of Hesiod and at the top of the image share color characteristics with other pyroclastic deposits known on Mercury. Pyroclastic eruptions are driven by volatile compounds, and MESSENGER has revealed that Mercury has a higher abundance of volatile elements than was previously expected.

Date acquired: September 07, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 223922395
Image ID: 730933
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -57.84°
Center Longitude: 329.6° E
Resolution: 193 meters/pixel
Scale: Hesiod crater is about 100 km (62 miles) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 62.7°
Emission Angle: 21.7°
Phase Angle: 84.5°

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