This image, taken with the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), shows an unnamed complex crater in Mercury's southern hemisphere. The sharpness of the terraced walls and central peaks indicate that the crater is relatively young. Also visible is a secondary crater chain that crosses the northern half of the crater floor, most likely created by the ejecta of an impact outside of the field of view.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution stereo imaging campaign. Images from the stereo imaging campaign are used in combination with the surface morphology base map or the albedo base map to create high-resolution stereo views of Mercury's surface, with an average resolution of 200 meters/pixel. Viewing the surface under the same Sun illumination conditions but from two or more viewing angles enables information about the small-scale topography of Mercury's surface to be obtained.

Date acquired: December 17, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 264215266
Image ID: 3155492
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -23.01°
Center Longitude: 112.1° E
Resolution: 205 meters/pixel
Scale: This crater is about 75 km (47 mi.) in diameter.
Incidence Angle: 41.0°
Emission Angle: 1.6°
Phase Angle: 39.4°

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 acquired 88,746 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is now in a year-long extended mission, during which plans call for the acquisition of more than 80,000 additional images to support MESSENGER's science goals.

For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.