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Today's image features a scarp, or cliff face, which is longer than the 77 km shown in this frame. Scarps form as one block of crust is thrusted forward over another, which can result from the cooling of the planet's interior causing global contraction. On Mercury, scarps are called "rupes," which is Latin for cliff.
This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 200-meter/pixel morphology base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution, but typically several areas of high scientific interest are imaged in this mode each week.
Date acquired: July 08, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 15627633
Image ID: 4404792
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 20.47°
Center Longitude: 141.0° E
Resolution: 51 meters/pixel
Scale: Image width is about 65 km (40.4 miles)
Incidence Angle: 83.4°
Emission Angle: 38.9°
Phase Angle: 45.4°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Today's color image highlights the bright hollows on the floor and peaks of Sander crater, named after the German photographer August Sander. The process responsible for these bright, shallow formations is still unknown, but it is possible that volatile sublimation is etching away at the surface.
This image was acquired as a targeted high-resolution 11-color image set. Acquiring 11-color targets is a new campaign that began in March 2013 and that utilizes all of the WAC's 11 narrow-band color filters. Because of the large data volume involved, only features of special scientific interest are targeted for imaging in all 11 colors.
Date acquired: June 06, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 12802777, 12802773, 12802771
Image ID: 4204118, 4204116, 4204115
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 42.53°
Center Longitude: 154.2° E
Resolution: 265 meters/pixel
Scale: Crater diameter is about 51 km (31.7 miles)
Incidence Angle: 42.9°
Emission Angle: 26.5°
Phase Angle: 69.4°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This image of Mercury's southern hemisphere shows the large size variation and multiple generations of impact craters on Mercury. Mercury's southern hemisphere is easier to image due to MESSENGER's elliptical orbit, but this orbit also prevents acquisition of high resolution images like those taken in the northern hemisphere.
Date acquired: February 08, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 2613780
Image ID: 3479116
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 9 (996 nanometers)
Center Latitude: -80.38°
Center Longitude: 302.4° E
Resolution: 1486 meters/pixel
Scale: The complex crater in the center of the image is 151 km in diameter (94 miles).
Incidence Angle: 85.0°
Emission Angle: 25.8°
Phase Angle: 59.1°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This image is of the southern rim of the crater Stravinsky. In this high-incidence-angle lighting, the topography of the crater is easily seen. Particularly noticeable is the difference between the crater's flat floor and the hummocky terrain of the ejecta blanket outside the crater. The area in the lower left of the image is part of the Vyasa basin. Since Stravinsky's ejecta overlaps Vyasa, we can deduce that Stravinsky is younger than Vyasa.
Date acquired: February 15, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 3211541
Image ID: 3522080
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 50.01°
Center Longitude: 281.1° E
Resolution: 256 meters/pixel
Scale: The smaller crater in the upper left is 7.8 km (4.8 miles) in diameter.
Incidence Angle: 82.7°
Emission Angle: 0.1°
Phase Angle: 82.7°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
The northern plains on Mercury have lower elevation than surrounding regions. This view of the northern plains includes many wrinkle ridges, a result of tectonic deformation. The ridges outline the rim of a ghost crater, formed when lava covered the crater and differential sagging took place over the rim. The ghost rim is joined by four other prominent ridges.
Date acquired: February 13, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 3038383, 3038375, 3038379
Image ID: 3509798, 3509796, 3509797
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 69.58°
Center Longitude: 284.1° E
Resolution: 91 meters/pixel
Scale: The ghost crater is 21 km (13 miles) in diameter.
Incidence Angle: 84.9°
Emission Angle: 0.1°
Phase Angle: 85.0°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
The northern plains of Mercury are home to many volcanically flooded craters such as Monteverdi, which occupies part of the lower edge of this image. The plains have abundant wrinkle ridges and fresh craters.
This image was acquired as part of MDIS's minimum-phase-angle color campaign. Near the north polar region, the incidence angle (measured from the vertical) is always fairly high because the Sun is low on the horizon. The minimum-phase-angle color campaign acquires images under conditions that minimize the shadows in an image by viewing the surface as nearly as possible from the same direction as the Sun's illumination, which minimizes the phase angle. Images are acquired through five of the WAC's narrow-band color filters, for regions north of 60° N, at an average resolution of 500 meters/pixel. The minimum-phase-angle color campaign began in March 2013.
Date acquired: April 18, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 8598032, 8598023, 8598029
Image ID: 3905074, 3905071, 3905073
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 66.83°
Center Longitude: 276.7° E
Resolution: 312 meters/pixel
Scale: The image is about 240 km across (149 miles).
Incidence Angle: 78.3°
Emission Angle: 50.3°
Phase Angle: 28.0°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This small unnamed crater occurs near a wrinkle ridge in Goethe Basin. Since this image was taken near the north pole of Mercury, the shadows are more dramatic than in the equatorial region.
Date acquired: February 09, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 2721322, 2721314, 2721318
Image ID: 3487267, 3487265, 3487266
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 83.35°
Center Longitude: 291.6° E
Resolution: 86 meters/pixel
Scale: The larger crater in this image is 9.5 km in diameter (6 miles).
Incidence Angle: 87.6°
Emission Angle: 18.9°
Phase Angle: 87.5°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This colorful view of Mercury is similar to that used to generate this movie [23MB, 6.5MB] of Mercury as a spinning globe, and these two individual views (centered at 140°E and 320°E) of the innermost planet. The enhanced color view is overlaid on the global monochrome base map, which is available for download here.
The enhanced color was produced by using images from the color base map imaging campaign during MESSENGER's primary mission. These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather the colors enhance the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up Mercury's surface. This specific color combination places the second principal component in the red channel, the first principal component in the green channel, and the ratio of the 430 nm/1000 nm filters in the blue channel.
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 0°
Center Longitude: 180° E
Map Projection: Simple cylindrical projection
Resolution: 3.74 km/pixel
Scale: Mercury's diameter is 4880 kilometers (3030 miles)
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
The above image is from a digital elevation model (DEM) created by using orbital MLA data. The colors illustrate Mercury's topography, which spans roughly from -5 km (deep blue) to 5 km (red). The specific color bar is given on the ACT-REACT QuickMap description of this DEM layer. Also in QuickMap, this DEM can be used to generate 3D views of the surface.
The DEM can be downloaded on MESSENGER's Global Mosaics of Mercury webpage in a variety of formats and resolutions. The DEM was created by using MLA orbital data through that released by the PDS on March 8, 2013. Due to MESSENGER's highly elliptical orbit, MLA can only range to the surface in the northern hemisphere. Consequently, the DEM products derived from MLA data only cover the northern hemisphere of Mercury. Additionally, the accuracy of each DEM product is higher closer to the north pole, and near the equator, the data are highly interpolated.
Instrument: Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA)
Center Latitude: 90° N
Map Projection: Polar stereographic projection, extending southward to 55° N, with 0° longitude at the bottom
Resolution: 2 km/pixel
Scale: The distance across the center of this polar map projection is approximately 2,980 kilometers (1850 miles)
Download: Global Mosaics of Mercury Webpage
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This unnamed complex crater in Mercury's northern hemisphere has produced crater chains. These chains form when a crater ejects material that then plummets towards the surface, producing more craters, often in long linear chains. Another set of crater chains can be seen within the large crater in this image, which most likely originated from the crater Hokusai. Since Hokusai's crater chains lie on top of the crater in this image, the crater Hokusai must be younger!
Date acquired: February 01, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 2001572
Image ID: 3436074
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 54.87°
Center Longitude: 6.15° E
Resolution: 234 meters/pixel
Scale: The large crater is 64 km in diameter (40 miles).
Incidence Angle: 54.9°
Emission Angle: 4.5°
Phase Angle: 50.4°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This region in Mercury's northern mid-latitudes shows the the rays of the crater Hokusai, along with the bright rays of a much smaller crater in the southeastern portion of the image. Rays are produced when material is excavated from a crater and "thrown" across the surface of a planet. The "butterfly" pattern of the smaller rayed crater is believed to be created during very low-angle impacts where material is ejected in an asymmetrical pattern.
Date acquired: February 01, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 2001682, 2001674, 2001678
Image ID: 3436082, 3436080, 3436081
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 47.96°
Center Longitude: 7.84° E
Resolution: 131 meters/pixel
Scale: The crater along the southwestern edge of the image is 12.3 km in diameter (7.6 miles).
Incidence Angle: 48.0°
Emission Angle: 0.1°
Phase Angle: 47.9°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This image highlights a rough region near Mercury's northern pole. It is challenging to image the terrain neat the northern pole, because the sun is always low on the horizon, causing long shadows. In this case, the shadows dramatically accentuate the topography.
Date acquired: June 22, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 248865807, 248865802, 248865804
Image ID: 2064058, 2064056, 2064057
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 84.33°
Center Longitude: 150.1° E
Resolution: 156 meters/pixel
Scale: 107.18 km (66.6 mi) diagonal image length
Incidence Angle: 84.3°
Emission Angle: 28.7°
Phase Angle: 84.9°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This false-color image is located just at the edge of the Rembrandt Basin. The basin edge crosses the newly named Enterprise Rupes. This is just a small meeting of two titans, as Enterprise extends for ~822 km (510 mi.), and Rembrandt is about 723 km (450 mi) in diameter. The edge of Rembrandt is loosely marked with a pink line, and Enterprise with a yellow line.
Date acquired: August 14, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 221845855, 221845875, 221845859
Image ID: 632458, 632463, 632459
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: -36.15°
Center Longitude: 75.66° E
Resolution: 576 meters/pixel
Scale: This image is about 640 km (398 mi.) across.
Incidence Angle: 56.7°
Emission Angle: 0.5°
Phase Angle: 56.3°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This image highlights the difference between the areas on and below the newly named Belgica Rupes. The arrows show Belgica's location, stretching along most of this image for about 764 km. Notice how some of the smaller, newer craters obscure the scarp line, while the older craters were clearly disrupted by the formation of Belgica Rupes.
The word 'rupes' comes from the latin word for cliff. All rupes on Mercury are named after vehicles of exploration. Belgica was a Belgian ship that explored the south pole of earth in 1898. Belgian Rupes is also very close to the southern pole of Mercury. It's name was approved by the IAU on June 6, 2013 along with 9 other rupes.
Date acquired: August 17, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 222063126, 222063130, 222063122
Image ID: 642667, 642668, 642666
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 3, 4, 6 (479, 558, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: -52.80°
Center Longitude: 64.08° E
Resolution: 896 meters/pixel
Scale: Belgica Rupes extends 764 km (475 miles).
Incidence Angle: 63.3°
Emission Angle: 0.4°
Phase Angle: 63.2°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Within the yellow box, three unnamed craters are stacked one upon another. The rim of the largest of the three is partially obscured, and the crater floor appears filled in, likely due to flooding by volcanism. Superposed on this crater is another younger crater, which has also been impacted by an even younger crater. To the north of the craters, a long scarp (yellow arrows) cuts across the region.
Date acquired: March 30, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 209960906
Image ID: 67407
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -63.00°
Center Longitude: 5.11° E
Resolution: 387 meters/pixel
Scale: The yellow box is ~60.5 km (37.6 mi) wide.
Incidence Angle: 63.5°
Emission Angle: 1.9°
Phase Angle: 61.8°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This color image shows Raden Saleh crater in a new light. The crater's bright ejecta rays are superimposed on the surrounding terrain, including a patch of dark low reflectance material (LRM). In the lower right corner, rays from Qi Baishi crater are also visible.
This image was acquired as a targeted high-resolution 11-color image set. Acquiring 11-color targets is a new campaign that began in March 2013 and that utilizes all of the WAC's 11 narrow-band color filters. Because of the large data volume involved, only features of special scientific interest are targeted for imaging in all 11 colors.
Date acquired: May 08, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 10356510, 10356502, 10356498
Image ID: 4029993, 4029991, 4029990
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 2.04°
Center Longitude: 158.8° E
Resolution: 440 meters/pixel
Scale: Raden Saleh crater is about 23 km (14 miles) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 21.5°
Emission Angle: 38.1°
Phase Angle: 59.6°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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