Sher-Gil Crater

Impact craters serve as probes into a planet's subsurface, excavating and exposing material from depth that would be otherwise unobservable. Thus the study of impact crater deposits can help to elucidate the geological history of the target region. In this image, the crater Sher-Gil has exposed low-reflectance material, particularly in its eastern wall and at two concentrated points on the north and south rim. Younger, bright features called hollows dot the dark parts of the crater.

Date acquired: December 01, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 231267850
Image ID: 1082997
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -45.06°
Center Longitude: 135.3° E
Resolution: 102 meters/pixel
Scale: Sher-Gil crater is about 76 km (47 mi.) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 59.6°
Emission Angle: 15.9°
Phase Angle: 65.0°

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