Hemingway crater is seen in this color view of Mercury's surface. Hemingway is the 130-km (81-mile) diameter crater with a relatively brown floor and small patch of dark blue in its center. This impact crater has irregular depressions on its floor, which are fairly common in other impact craters and may be due to explosive volcanic events, but the low-reflectance, blue patch on the floor may point to a more complex history.

This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted color observation. Targeted color observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions higher than the 1-kilometer/pixel 8-color base map. During MESSENGER's one-year primary mission, hundreds of targeted color observations were obtained. During MESSENGER's extended mission, high-resolution targeted color observations are more rare, as the 3-color base map covered Mercury's northern hemisphere with the highest-resolution color images that are possible.

Date acquired: July 15, 2014
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 47756996, 47757016, 47757000
Image ID: 6688394, 6688399, 6688395
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 16.51°
Center Longitude: 356.9° E
Resolution: 288 meters/pixel
Scale: This scene is about 290 km (180 miles) across
Incidence Angle: 19.2°
Emission Angle: 60.3°
Phase Angle: 77.9°

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. 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.