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At the left edge of this color view is a relatively fresh crater, featured previously in this oblique view. Chains of secondary craters can be seen emanating from the crater, but its bright rays have already nearly faded into the background. Bright, relatively blue rays do cross the scene from northwest to southeast, but these are the famous rays of Hokusai crater, located over 1000 km away.
This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted color observation. Targeted color observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions higher than the 1-kilometer/pixel 8-color base map. During MESSENGER's one-year primary mission, hundreds of targeted color observations were obtained. During MESSENGER's extended mission, high-resolution targeted color observations are more rare, as the 3-color base map covered Mercury's northern hemisphere with the highest-resolution color images that are possible.
Date acquired: July 05, 2014
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 46889179, 46889199, 46889183
Image ID: 6626955, 6626960, 6626956
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: 34.02°
Center Longitude: 39.36° E
Resolution: 223 meters/pixel
Scale: This scene is approximately 260 km (160 miles) across
Incidence Angle: 35.5°
Emission Angle: 45.6°
Phase Angle: 78.2°
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Today's image shows three oblique mosaics of Hokusai, a complex crater in Mercury's northern hemisphere. The top mosaic features a view of Hokusai where north is to the left. The bottom left is a color mosaic that also has north to the left. In the bottom right is mosaic with a high incidence angle where north is now to the right. The high incidence angle emphasizes topography differences because the sun's low angle creates long shadows. Evident in all of these mosaics are Hokusai's smooth impact melt covered floor, central peak, ejecta blanket, and terraced walls.
The top mosaic 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.
The bottom left color 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.
The bottom right mosaic was acquired as part of MDIS's high-incidence-angle base map. The high-incidence-angle base map complements the surface morphology base map of MESSENGER's primary mission that was acquired under generally more moderate incidence angles. High incidence angles, achieved when the Sun is near the horizon, result in long shadows that accentuate the small-scale topography of geologic features. The high-incidence-angle base map was acquired with an average resolution of 200 meters/pixel.
Instruments: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) and Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue for color mosaic
Center Latitude: 57.66°
Center Longitude: 16.58° E
Scale: Hokusai is about 85 km (53 miles) in diameter.
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This dramatic image features Hokusai in the foreground, famous for its extensive set of rays, some of which extend for over a thousand kilometers across Mercury's surface. The extensive, bright rays indicate that Hokusai is one of the youngest large craters on Mercury. Check out previously featured images to see high-resolution details of its central peaks, rim and ejecta blanket, and impact melt on its floor.
This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-incidence-angle base map. The high-incidence-angle base map complements the surface morphology base map of MESSENGER's primary mission that was acquired under generally more moderate incidence angles. High incidence angles, achieved when the Sun is near the horizon, result in long shadows that accentuate the small-scale topography of geologic features. The high-incidence-angle base map was acquired with an average resolution of 200 meters/pixel.
Date acquired: September 17, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 21704875
Image ID: 4836938
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 58.2.°
Center Longitude: 14.2.° E
Scale: Hokusai has a diameter of 114 km (71 miles)
Orientation: This image is oriented such that north is roughly to the right.
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Fresh and bright, this unnamed, elongated crater appears to have been formed by an impactor that struck the surface at an oblique angle, causing most of the ejecta to be thrown out unevenly around the crater (notice the bright rays above, below, and to the right of the crater). The marginally bright material in the bottom left corner is actually part of a ray from Hokusai, over 1380 km (about 860 mi.) away!
This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted color observation. Targeted color observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions higher than the 1-kilometer/pixel 8-color base map. During MESSENGER's one-year primary mission, hundreds of targeted color observations were obtained. During MESSENGER's extended mission, high-resolution targeted color observations are more rare, as the 3-color base map covered Mercury's northern hemisphere with the highest-resolution color images that are possible.
Date acquired: August 19, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 222275999, 222275995, 222275991
Image ID: 652862, 652861, 652860
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: 27.84°
Center Longitude: 30.73° E
Resolution: 116 meters/pixel
Scale: The small bright crater measures about 13 km (8 mi.) in long dimension.
Incidence Angle: 31.1°
Emission Angle: 37.2°
Phase Angle: 68.3°
Photo 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 focuses on the central peaks and impact melt of Hokusai crater. The contrast between the illuminated sides of these peaks and their shadows make this a striking image. It is interesting to note that the smooth floor surrounding the mountains was formed from cooling impact melt generated from the heat and energy of the original impact. The crater's name honors the Japanese painter and printmaker, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) who possessed a slight obsession with the famous volcano Mt. Fuji. Hokusai's most well known work is "Mount Fuji Seen Below a Wave at Kanagawa."
Date acquired: July 29, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 220460258
Image ID: 566860
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 58.03°
Center Longitude: 16.52° E
Resolution: 24 meters/pixel
Scale: The image is approximately 28 km wide (17 mi.)
Incidence Angle: 75.4°
Emission Angle: 28.5°
Phase Angle: 104.0°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This color image emphasizes three major features of Mercury's surface: bright ejecta rays, explosive volcanic vents, and dark low reflectance material (LRM). The bright ray passing through the center of the image is part of Hokusai's immense system of rays. To the right, Picasso's arc-shaped pit is distinctive in color and contrasts with the patch of LRM to the crater's right.
Date acquired: September 17, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 224718677, 224718685, 224718679
Image ID: 769641, 769646, 769642
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: 2.23°
Center Longitude: 46.34° E
Resolution: 1350 meters/pixel
Scale: Picasso crater is about 134 kilometers (83 miles) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 47.0°
Emission Angle: 0.2°
Phase Angle: 47.0°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
The rim of an unnamed peak-ring basin cuts across today's featured image. The basin is relatively degraded, but its rim still stands as a cliff over 1 km (0.6 miles) high. The face of this cliff, where downslope is toward the top of the image, is covered by a chain of secondary craters, whose formation on this steep slope led to somewhat asymmetrical crater shapes. It's hard to say which crater these secondaries originated from - the region is crossed by rays from Bronte, over 1700 km to the west, and Hokusai, over 2000 km to the east.
Date acquired: April 12, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 8108630
Image ID: 3870271
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 41.15°
Center Longitude: 289.3° E
Resolution: 22 meters/pixel
Scale: This scene is approximately 25 km (16 miles) across
Incidence Angle: 64.0°
Emission Angle: 15.0°
Phase Angle: 79.0°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Today's image shows a complicated area of rays to the east of crater Bronte (named for sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte, and their brother Branwell). The rays trending roughly northeast-southwest originated from Degas, which formed just touching Bronte's rim. The roughly north-south ray (and secondary crater chain) on the right side of the image was probably formed by ejecta that came over the pole from Hokusai.
Date acquired: April 22, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 211981114
Image ID: 163497
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 38.15°
Center Longitude: 238.4° E
Resolution: 322 meters/pixel
Scale: The edges of the image are about 330 km (205 mi.) long.
Incidence Angle: 62.4°
Emission Angle: 0.2°
Phase Angle: 62.5°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This image is a portion of the MDIS global mosaic basemap that was acquired during MESSENGER's first year in orbit. The scene shows a region of smooth, volcanic plains that have been heavily modified by tectonic structures termed "wrinkle ridges." Occurring on the Moon and Mars as well as on Mercury, wrinkle ridges are low, sinuous features that form when lavas cool and subside, causing the crust to contract horizontally. These landforms are often concentrated around buried crater rims, forming circular wrinkle ridges like those in the center right of the image.
While the innermost planet hosts thousands of wrinkle ridges, they are largely confined to its smooth plains, and are morphologically different to the larger, longer faults that comprise Mercury's fold-and-thrust belts. By studying how the different types of tectonic features are distributed across Mercury, MESSENGER scientists can begin to document in detail how the planet has deformed through time.
Date Created: February 10, 2012
Instrument: Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Latitude Range: 49.6° N to 60.9° N
Longitude Range: 16.5° E to 48.5° E
Resolution: 400 meters/pixel
Scale: Hokusai, the large, fresh impact crater at top left, is 90 km (56 mi.) in diameter.
Projection: Azimuthal equidistant
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
A colorful view of a complex region is shown in this image. The high-reflectance and hollow-filled floor of de Graft crater is visible at center left, and a similar high-reflectance smaller crater is located to the northeast. Streaking across the scene from north to south are rays from Hokusai crater, located over 1,500 km away.
Date acquired: September 22, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 225143097, 225143117, 225143101
Image ID: 790098, 790103, 790099
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: 24.00°
Center Longitude: 6.67° E
Resolution: 421 meters/pixel
Scale: De Graft crater is approximately 68 km (42 miles) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 26.8°
Emission Angle: 22.5°
Phase Angle: 39.3°
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
This mosaic of NAC images shows the impact crater Hokusai, located on Mercury at a latitude of 58° North. The crater has an impressive system of rays, which extend as much as a thousand kilometers (more than 600 miles) across the planet and are the longest that have yet been identified on Mercury.
Such rays are formed when an impact excavates material from beneath the surface and throws that material outward from the crater. These bright rays, consisting of both ejecta and secondary craters that form when the ejected material re-impacts the surface, slowly begin to fade as they are exposed to the harsh space environment. Mercury and other airless planetary bodies are being constantly bombarded with micrometeoroids and energetic ions, producing an effect known as space weathering. Craters with bright rays are thought to be relatively young because the rays are still visible, indicating that they have had less exposure to such weathering processes than craters that lack rays.
Although the extent of some of Hokusai's rays have been determined, images acquired during MESSENGER's three Mercury flybys have not yet shown all of Hokusai's rays. During MESSENGER's orbital observations, which will begin in March 2011, MDIS will acquire high-resolution color images of Mercury's entire surface. This global color map will allow the full extent of the extensive systems of rays emanating from Hokusai and other young craters to be mapped for the first time.
Date Acquired: October 6, 2008
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Scale: The diameter of Mercury is 4,880 kilometers (3030 miles). Hokusai has a diameter of 95 kilometers (59 miles)
Photo credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
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