This view was captured as MDIS pointed westward across Mercury's rough surface; west is at the top of this image, to give the same perspective view as seen by the camera. The foreground, which is very near the terminator, is covered in long shadows, while further off in the west, daylight still illuminates the cratered terrain.
This 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 MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mission, MDIS is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER's science goals.
Date acquired: October 19, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 227517025
Image ID: 904919
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 8.68°
Center Longitude: 5.34° E
Center Resolution: 264 meters/pixel
Scale: The large crater near the center of the image is approximately 110 kilometers (68 miles) in diameter
Center Incidence Angle: 85.9°
Center Emission Angle: 56.0°
Center Phase Angle: 142.0°
These images are from MESSENGER, a NASA Discovery mission to conduct the first orbital study of the innermost planet, Mercury. For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.