Ride Along with the NAC

This high-resolution image of Mercury's limb is part of a new type of observation that MESSENGER will use throughout the extended mission: the NAC ride-along imaging campaign. When data volume is available and MDIS is not acquiring images for its other campaigns, high-resolution NAC images are obtained of the surface. These images are designed not to interfere with other instrument observations but take full advantage of periods during the mission when extra data volume is available. If you look closely, you may also notice some bright speckles on Mercury and in space. These are due to the recent solar storm.

Date acquired: March 08, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 239703718
Image ID: 1490467
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 1.60°
Center Longitude: 356.5° E
Resolution: 165 meters/pixel
Scale: Scene is approximately 160 km (100 miles) from top to bottom
Incidence Angle: 4.2°
Emission Angle: 82.3°
Phase Angle: 78.0°

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