This view captured by MESSENGER's wide angle camera (WAC) shows many secondary crater chains that originated from a primary impact crater located outside this image to the west. The secondary crater chains are formed as the parent crater-forming event launches ejecta into the surrounding area. The chunks of ejecta dig out their own craters which sometimes overlap to form a long valley-like depression. These features are striking though not uncommon on Mercury's battered surface. Some other examples of secondary craters can be found at Abedin crater.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution surface morphology base map. The surface morphology base map will cover more than 90% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 250 meters/pixel (0.16 miles/pixel or 820 feet/pixel). Images acquired for the surface morphology base map typically have off-vertical Sun angles (i.e., high incidence angles) and visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features.

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.

Date acquired: April 30, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 212677081
Image ID: 196161
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 63.76°
Center Longitude: 198.7° E
Resolution: 162 meters/pixel
Scale: This image is about 165 km (103 mi) across
Incidence Angle: 79.9°
Emission Angle: 1.1°
Phase Angle: 81.0°

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.