PIA14353: Northern Plains in Color


Northern Plains in Color

Caption:

The top image shows an example of MESSENGER's color base map imaging campaign , which will collect global images acquired through eight filters between wavelengths of 430 and 1000 nm at an average resolution of 1.2 km/pixel. The northern plains are seen here to be distinctive in color and thus composition from the surrounding terrain. The mosaicked images are shown with the 1000, 750, and 430 nm images in red, green, and blue, respectively. The scene is centered at 73° N, 300° E.

In the bottom image, the same scene is shown after the application of a statistical method that highlights differences among the eight color filters, making variations in color and composition easier to discern.

Date Presented: June 16, 2011, at a NASA press conference
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)

Background Info:

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.

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 .

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mercury
System
Target Type Planet
Mission MESSENGER
Instrument Host MESSENGER
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Detector Wide Angle Camera (WAC)
Extra Keywords Color, Map, Radio
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2011-06-16
Date in Caption 2011-06-16
Image Credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14353
Identifier PIA14353