This image, captured by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), shows an unnamed complex crater in Mercury's southern hemisphere. The smooth crater floor is likely due to impact melt that formed during the collision that produced the crater. Also visible are the peak ring and terraced walls, as well as the ejecta blanket and a large field of secondary craters and crater chains.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution surface morphology base map. The surface morphology base map will cover more than 90% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 250 meters/pixel (0.16 miles/pixel or 820 feet/pixel). Images acquired for the surface morphology base map typically have off-vertical Sun angles (i.e., high incidence angles) and visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features.

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.

Date acquired: July 25, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 220043917
Image ID: 546489
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -66.40°
Center Longitude: 81.43° E
Resolution: 326 meters/pixel
Scale: The large crater has a diameter of about 155 km (96 miles)
Incidence Angle: 67.0°
Emission Angle: 33.5°
Phase Angle: 100.5°

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.