Paramour Rupes in 3-D

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Caption:

Red-cyan glasses will help you see the impressive heights of Paramour Rupes in this 3D view. Paramour is a large cliff (well over 600 meters high at places!) that formed when one block of crust was thrust forward over another, resulting in a feature known as a lobate scarp . Paramour Rupes is located to the southwest of the Caloris basin , and the small knobs that litter the scene are thought to be blocks of ejecta from the Caloris impact event. For ease of stereo viewing, this anaglyph has been rotated so that north is toward the left.

This image pair was acquired as a targeted set of stereo images. Targeted stereo observations are acquired at resolutions much higher than that of the 200-meter/pixel stereo base map. These targets acquired with the NAC enable the detailed topography of Mercury's surface to be determined for a local area of interest.

Date acquired: June 18, 2014
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 45386688, 45387906
Image ID: 6520353, 6520362
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -4.99°
Center Longitude: 146.3°E
Resolution: 110 meters/pixel
Scale: This scene is approximately 110 km (68 miles) across
Incidence Angle: 63.8°
Emission Angle: 37.2°
Phase Angle: 97.7°

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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