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Presented here is a fine view of the 75-km diameter crater Rimbaud. Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet who lived from 1854 to 1891. He had a stormy relationship with Paul Verlaine, a symbolist poet. In Brussels in 1873, Verlaine shot Rimbaud, wounding him in the wrist. No crater named Verlaine exists on Mercury. A Verlaine crater on Mars was named for a town in France. Crossing the eastern floor and wall of Rimbaud from south to north is a ray from crater Han Kan.
This image was acquired as a targeted set of stereo images. Targeted stereo observations are acquired at resolutions much higher than that of the 200-meter/pixel stereo base map. These targets acquired with the NAC enable the detailed topography of Mercury's surface to be determined for a local area of interest.
Date acquired: November 12, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 26596630
Image ID: 5185060
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -63.38°
Center Longitude: 211.7° E
Resolution: 147 meters/pixel
Scale: Rimbaud crater is about 75 km (46.5 mi.) across.
Incidence Angle: 67.4°
Emission Angle: 22.9°
Phase Angle: 71.8°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
In the center of this image is a high-reflectance area that seems to be confined to a region of lower elevation that is bounded by linear scarp (cliff) segments. Such diffuse bright areas are sometimes related to the deposition of small secondary craters and ray segments by a relatively recent impact crater, but looking at regional images (for example, using QuickMap), there are no rayed craters in the immediate vicinity (though Han Kan might be a candidate). Therefore, a compositional difference may account for the difference in the albedo (brightness) of the material in the low-lying area. Are the scarps tectonic in nature (the result of vertical movement along faults), or were they formed by secondary crater chains? Also of interest in the scene are hollows on the central peak of the crater at the upper left, and the smooth impact melt on the floor of the terrace-walled crater just below center. Scientists will be at work for many years to solve the puzzle of Mercury's complicated geological history!
This image was acquired as part of 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.
Date acquired: May 19, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 245904903
Image ID: 1853014
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -47.3°
Center Longitude: 177.3° E
Resolution: 179 meters/pixel
Scale: The scene is about 184 km (114 mi.) across
Incidence Angle: 47.7°
Emission Angle: 24.2°
Phase Angle: 71.9°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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