Pictured here are two named craters, Bek (32 km in diameter) and Lermontov (166 km in diameter). Bek's beautiful rays are indicative of its relative youth; Lermontov's floor is a suspected site of explosive volcanism, with irregular depressions and a distinct color signature.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's color base map. The color base map is composed of WAC images taken through eight different narrow-band color filters and will cover more than 90% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 1 kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel). The highest-quality color images are obtained for Mercury's surface when both the spacecraft and the Sun are overhead, so these images typically are taken with viewing conditions of low incidence and emission angles.

On March 17, 2011 (March 18, 2011, UTC), MESSENGER became the first spacecraft ever to orbit the planet Mercury. The mission is currently in its commissioning phase, during which spacecraft and instrument performance are verified through a series of specially designed checkout activities. In the course of the one-year primary mission, the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation will unravel the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the science questions that the MESSENGER mission has set out to answer.

Date acquired: April 10, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 210937352
Image ID: 114309
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 19.80°
Center Longitude: 309.1° E
Resolution: 1040 meters/pixel
Scale: The crater Bek is 32 km in diameter (20 miles)
Incidence Angle: 28.0°
Emission Angle: 0.2°
Phase Angle: 28.0°

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.