Wang Meng Basin can be see in the top right of this image. The color view of this basin shows the contrast between the darker Low Reflectance Material (LRM) on Wang Meng's peak ring and the brighter crater rays which spread across the right side of the image. While the hollows on the crater rim are associated with LRM, as evidenced by their bright blue halos, the bright rays are coming from nearby craters, including the small, fresh crater in the top right.
This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution 3-color imaging campaign. The map produced from this campaign complements the 8-color base map (at an average resolution of 1 km/pixel) acquired during MESSENGER's primary mission by imaging Mercury's surface in a subset of the color filters at the highest resolution possible. The three narrow-band color filters are centered at wavelengths of 430 nm, 750 nm, and 1000 nm, and image resolutions generally range from 100 to 400 meters/pixel in the northern hemisphere.
Date acquired: April 20, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET) (since January 8, 2013): 8743264, 8743256, 8743260
Image ID: 3915336, 3915334, 3915335
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: 6.33°
Center Longitude: 254.1° E
Resolution: 363 meters/pixel
Scale: Wang Meng is ~165 kilometers (102.5 miles) in diameter.
Incidence Angle: 41.6°
Emission Angle: 0.2°
Phase Angle: 41.7°
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. MESSENGER acquired over 150,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is capable of continuing orbital operations until early 2015.
For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.