This oblique view shows a portion of the rim of the crater Eminescu . The angle of this image provides a great perspective for viewing the spectacular cliffs that formed as material slumped from the crater rim into the crater interior, as well as small ponds of impact melt perched on the rim. North is down in this image.
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.
Date acquired:
December 05, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET):
231611014
Image ID:
1099316
Instrument:
Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude:
9.8°
Center Longitude:
115.5° E
Resolution:
34 meters/pixel
Scale:
The scene is approximately 35 km (22 miles) from north to south.
Incidence Angle:
65.1°
Emission Angle:
60.1°
Phase Angle:
125.3°
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. During the one-year primary mission, MDIS is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER's science goals.
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 .
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 | Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) | |
Extra Keywords | Crater, Grayscale, Impact, Map, Radio | |
Acquisition Date | ||
Release Date | 2011-12-16 | |
Date in Caption | 2011-12-05 | |
Image Credit | NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington | |
Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA15219 | |
Identifier | PIA15219 |