This high-resolution image of Mercury's limb is part of a new type of observation that MESSENGER will use throughout the extended mission: the NAC ride-along imaging campaign. When data volume is available and MDIS is not acquiring images for its other campaigns, high-resolution NAC images are obtained of the surface. These images are designed not to interfere with other instrument observations but take full advantage of periods during the mission when extra data volume is available. If you look closely, you may also notice some bright speckles on Mercury and in space. These are due to the recent solar storm.

Date acquired: March 08, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 239703718
Image ID: 1490467
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 1.60°
Center Longitude: 356.5° E
Resolution: 165 meters/pixel
Scale: Scene is approximately 160 km (100 miles) from top to bottom
Incidence Angle: 4.2°
Emission Angle: 82.3°
Phase Angle: 78.0°

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. During the one-year primary mission, MDIS acquired 88,746 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is now in a year-long extended mission, during which plans call for the acquisition of more than 80,000 additional images to support MESSENGER's science goals.

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.