Belgica Rupes

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