Crater Close-Up: Nasa Messenger Image - Release Date 11 Oct 2011

Date acquired: September 15, 2011 Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 224551047 Image ID: 761407 Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) Center Latitude: 47.81° Center Longitude: 64.94° E Resolution: 26 meters/pixel Scale: This image is about 27 km (17 miles) across. Incidence Angle: 73.2° Emission Angle: 1.6° Phase Angle: 74.9° Of Interest: This image, taken with the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), gives us a close-up view of an unnamed complex crater. First imaged at high resolution by MESSENGER in July 2011, this crater displays central peaks and terraced walls. The terraces, or "slumps", are generally caused by material collapsing down the steep walls of the crater. Due to the detail still visible in the ejecta blanket and its comparatively high reflectance, this crater is thought to be relatively young. This image 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 250-meter/pixel (820 feet/pixel) morphology base map or the 1-kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel) color base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution during MESSENGER's one-year mission, but several areas of high scientific interest are generally imaged in this mode each week.

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