Detail From The New Three-Color Mosaic

A new color mosaic created from MESSENGER images is now available! This mosaic was part of a release on March 7, 2014 by NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS). A portion of the new color mosaic is shown here; can you find the craters Debussy, Derain, Berkel, and Warhol in this view? Explore the full 3-color mosaic (and confirm the locations of these craters) in QuickMap.

The images for MDIS's high-resolution 3-color mosaic were acquired during MESSENGER's second year in orbit about Mercury. The 3-color mosaic was designed to complement the 8-color base map acquired during MESSENGER's primary mission. By imaging Mercury's surface in a subset of the color filters at the highest resolution possible, the 3-color mosaic is available at 332 meters/pixel,as compared to 665 meters/pixel for the 8-color mosaic.

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: -14.9°
Center Longitude: 10.3° E
Resolution: 332 meters/pixel
Scale: Derain has a diameter of 167 km (104 miles)
Projection: simple cylindrical

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

Debussy and Berkel Rays Together

Even when they're not in the picture, craters Debussy and Berkel still leave their mark. The rays of Debussy, outside of the image to the southwest, and Berkel to the northeast, cross the scene.

Date acquired: March 03, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 4620855
Image ID: 3622493
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: -18.53°
Center Longitude: 19.80° E
Resolution: 449 meters/pixel
Scale: This scene is approximately 570 km (354 mi.) across
Incidence Angle: 31.7°
Emission Angle: 51.4°
Phase Angle: 28.0°
North is up in this image.

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

Debussy Crater

This color image of Mercury's limb captures Debussy, a crater 80 km (50 mi.) in diameter, as well as some if its extensive rays. The crater and its rays appear brighter than the surrounding material because the crater is relatively young and the excavated materials have not been substantially darkened by space weathering.

Date acquired: March 21, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 240854845, 240854865, 240854849
Image ID: 1545794, 1545799, 1545795
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: -36.20°
Center Longitude: 60.40° E
Resolution: 2858 meters/pixel
Scale: Mercury's diameter is 4880 kilometers (3030 miles)
Incidence Angle: 79.5°
Emission Angle: 66.7°
Phase Angle: 78.7

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

Debussy Crater Rays

The beautiful rays of Debussy cross this scene located to the east of the crater. Though not as extensive as those of Hokusai, Debussy's rays extend hundreds of kilometers from the crater. Debussy was first observed as feature "A" in Earth-based radar acquired at the Goldstone Observatory in 1969.

Date acquired: March 14, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 240247908
Image ID: 1517090
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -31.90°
Center Longitude: 28.14° E
Resolution: 99 meters/pixel
Scale: The image is approximately 120 km (75 miles) across
Incidence Angle: 44.2°
Emission Angle: 52.6°
Phase Angle: 28.1°

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

Debussy Crater

Here we have two images of the impact crater named Debussy. The one on the left is from MESSENGER's monochrome base map. The one on the right is a complement from the stereo base map. Because of the differing viewing perspectives, the images can be combined to derive an elevation map (digital terrain model) of the surface.

The left image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution surface morphology base map. The surface morphology base map will cover more than 90% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 250 meters/pixel (0.16 miles/pixel or 820 feet/pixel). Images acquired for the surface morphology base map typically have off-vertical Sun angles (i.e., high incidence angles) and visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features. The right image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution stereo base map. The stereo base map is used in combination with the surface morphology base map to create high-resolution stereo views of Mercury's surface, with an average resolution of 250 meters/pixel (0.16 miles/pixel or 820 feet/pixel) or better. During MESSENGER's one-year mission, the surface morphology base map is acquired during the first 176 days, and the second 176 days are used to acquire the complementary stereo base map, which includes the image here.

Left image:
Date acquired: July 31, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 220581440
Image ID: 572963
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -34.04°
Center Longitude: 11.25° E
Resolution: 284 meters/pixel
Incidence Angle: 67.2°
Emission Angle: 35.2°
Phase Angle: 102.4°

Right image:
Date acquired: January 19, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 235424544
Image ID: 1283627
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -33.95°
Center Longitude: 13.18° E
Resolution: 161 meters/pixel
Incidence Angle: 76.9°
Emission Angle: 23.3°
Phase Angle: 89.2°
Scale: Debussy crater has a diameter of about 80 km (50 mi.)

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

Ray Systems for Kuiper, Debussy and Hokusai Craters

This image shows two of the most prominent rayed craters on the surface of Mercury. In the top center is Kuiper, named for Dutch-American planetary astronomer and Mariner 10 team member Gerard Kuiper (1905-1973). At the right edge is the 80-km diameter crater named for French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918). The impacts that formed these craters ejected target materials for great distances across the planet's surface, and the image shows areas where the two sets of rays intersect. Another group of rays, entering the image from the top right, were deposited by the impact that formed Hokusai crater, far to the north. Hokusai was a Japanese artist who lived from 1760-1849.

Date acquired: October 06, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 131772995
Image ID: 6793
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: -31.41°
Center Longitude: 326.4° E
Resolution: 2800 meters/pixel
Scale: The distance between Kuiper and Debussy is about 1940 km (1200 miles)

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

Debussy Crater Rays and a Cosmic Ray

The rays apparent in this spectacular limb image of Mercury come from Debussy, the sharp crater near the terminator. This dominant crater on Mercury was also a part of MESSENGER's historic image of Mercury - the first image ever to be taken from a spacecraft in orbit about this planet. Readers may also notice a streak in the blackness of space in the top right corner of the image. This artifact was produced by a cosmic ray hitting the camera's CCD detector while the image was being collected.

Date acquired: July 26, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 220137668
Image ID: 550504
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: -27.90°
Center Longitude: 29.17° E
Resolution: 2783 meters/pixel
Scale: Mercury's radius is approximately 2440 km (1516 miles)
Incidence Angle: 65.1°
Emission Angle: 48.2°
Phase Angle: 95.3°

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