This image from the Narrow Angle Camera provides a fine view of the crater Donne. John Donne was an English poet known especially for his sonnets and elegies. Donne crater displays a mound-like central peak that has been somewhat rounded by impact erosion, and well-developed wall terraces. The crater has been modified by lobate scarps that cut the walls and floor.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution surface morphology base map. The surface morphology base map covers more than 99% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 200 meters/pixel. Images acquired for the surface morphology base map typically are obtained at off-vertical Sun angles (i.e., high incidence angles) and have visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features.

Date acquired: August 02, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 220803786
Image ID: 583200
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 3.32°
Center Longitude: 346.0° E
Resolution: 108 meters/pixel
Scale: Donne crater is about 86 km (53 mi.) in diameter.
Incidence Angle: 78.9°
Emission Angle: 32.4°
Phase Angle: 111.3°

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.