Hollows in an Unnamed Crater

This high-resolution image features hollows within an unnamed crater. Hollows often have bright halos and usually form in or around craters. Here, the hollows are forming on the crater floor, along the base of the crater wall, and on the top of the central peak.

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: October 13, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 258630853
Image ID: 2758246
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 50.63°
Center Longitude: 320.6° E
Resolution: 15 meters/pixel
Scale: This image is about 16 km (10 miles) across.
Incidence Angle: 76.8°
Emission Angle: 15.0°
Phase Angle: 91.9°

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