Click on the image for larger version

The feature indicated by the white arrow in this NAC image is the newly named crater Enwonwu (see PIA11762). It is named in honor of Benedict (Ben) Chukwukadibia Enwonwu, the twentieth century modernist Nigerian sculptor and painter. Enwonwu crater displays a central peak and a set of bright rays emanating from the crater rim. The rays cross the surrounding surface and neighboring craters, indicating that Enwonwu crater was formed comparatively recently in Mercury’s history. The brightness of the rays also suggests relative youth, as over time rays darken and disappear on Mercury's surface. These relationships provide useful indicators for determining the relative ages of features and the sequence of events that have shaped the surface of Mercury.

Date Acquired: January 14, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 108829024
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 590 meters/pixel (0.37 miles/pixel)
Scale: Enwonwu is 38 kilometers (24 miles) in diameter
Spacecraft Altitude: 23,000 kilometers (14,300 miles)

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.