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Date acquired: October 10, 2011 Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 226722230 Image ID: 866003 Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) Center Latitude: -88.74° Center Longitude: 121.7° E Resolution: 298 meters/pixel Scale: Chao Meng-Fu is approximately 160 km (99 mi) in diameter. Incidence Angle: 91.2° Emission Angle: 7.1° Phase Angle: 97.0°
Of Interest: The south pole of Mercury, indicated here by an X,
lies within the crater Chao Meng-Fu (named for a 13th century Chinese
painter and calligrapher). Much of the interior of this crater lies in
permanent darkness, and it is known to host radar bright features.
This image was acquired as part of MDIS's campaign to monitor the south polar region of Mercury. By imaging the polar region every four MESSENGER orbits as illumination conditions change, features that were in shadow on earlier orbits can be discerned and any permanently shadowed areas can be identified after repeated imaging over one solar day. During MESSENGER's one-year mission, MDIS's WAC is used to monitor the south polar region for the first Mercury solar day (176 Earth days), and MDIS's NAC is used for imaging the south polar region during the second Mercury solar day. | |
| Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington |
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