Smooth Slopes

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Caption:

The region with fewer impact craters in the bottom-right corner of this image is a small portion of the peak ring of an ancient basin over 200 km in diameter. The peak has fewer superposed impact craters, which could lead to the conclusion that it is younger than the surrounding basin floor. However, the lack of craters is instead due to the steeper slopes of the peak, where impact craters are not preserved as long.

This image was acquired as part of the MDIS low-altitude imaging campaign. During MESSENGER's second extended mission, the spacecraft makes a progressively closer approach to Mercury's surface than at any previous point in the mission, enabling the acquisition of high-spatial-resolution data. For spacecraft altitudes below 350 kilometers, NAC images are acquired with pixel scales ranging from 20 meters to as little as 2 meters.

Date acquired: January 22, 2015
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 64292542
Image ID: 7845423
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 7.81°
Center Longitude: 82.83° E
Resolution: 15 meters/pixel
Scale: This scene is approximately 15 km (9 miles) across
Incidence Angle: 82.4°
Emission Angle: 0.1°
Phase Angle: 82.5°

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. During the first two years of orbital operations, 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 .

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