PIA12035: A Rough-and tumble-World
 Target Name:  Mercury
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  MESSENGER
 Spacecraft:  MESSENGER
 Instrument:  MDIS - Narrow Angle
 Product Size:  1018 x 1025 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Johns Hopkins University/APL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA12035.tif (1.045 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA12035.jpg (176.7 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

Click here for larger version of PIA12035

Click on the image
for larger version

This NAC image shows a close-up view of the craters Vyasa and Stravinsky (PIA11360). Stravinsky is the smooth-floored crater partially seen on the right side of the image that overlies the rim of the larger, rougher crater Vyasa in the center and left. The low-Sun lighting angle casts distinctive shadows that show Mercury's rough surface, pockmarked by craters of all sizes. Small craters are visible on the smooth-floor of Stravinsky because of the high resolution of this image.

Date Acquired: October 6, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 131771118
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 140 meters/pixel (0.09 miles/pixel) near the bottom of the image
Scale: Stravinsky crater is 190 kilometers in diameter (120 miles)
Spacecraft Altitude: 5,500 kilometers (3,400 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.

Image Credit:
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Image Addition Date:
2009-02-24