The Kipling crater was originally circular, but that changed when the crater in this image was formed. Situated atop (and so postdating) the southern margin of Kipling, this smaller, younger crater has a distinctive central peak that is encircled by a curious, near-circular depression. This depression may be a volcanic pit, like others that dot the surface Mercury -- one of which even occurs in Kipling. The smooth floor of this crater shows subtle evidence of tectonic deformation, like that seen in many other infilled craters across the planet.
This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 200-meter/pixel morphology base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution, but typically several areas of high scientific interest are imaged in this mode each week.
Date acquired: January 03, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 234068866
Image ID: 1218101
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -20.83°
Center Longitude: 73.02° E
Resolution: 104 meters/pixel
Scale: This crater is ~88 km (55 mi.) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 67.2°
Emission Angle: 58.7°
Phase Angle: 28.2°
North is to the bottom-right corner of this image
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.
For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.
