Carnegie Rupes, a large tectonic landform, cutting through Duccio crater
Download Learn moreThe craters Poe, Sander, and Munch have excavated rocks once buried below Mercury's surface.
Download Learn moreThe topography of Mercury's northern region, as mapped by MESSENGER's laser altimeter, show features such as volcanic plains and craters thought to host water ice.
Download Learn moreMercury's sodium atmosphere forms a glowing, orange, comet-like tail. Find out how this happens in "Learn More."
Download Learn moreMESSENGER mapped Mercury's chemical composition and discovered striking regions of diversity.
Download Learn moreCertain areas of Mercury have more or less gravity than predicted. These gravity anomalies are mapped in color here.
Download Learn moreThe peak ring of Raditladi basin is covered in strange, unexpected, and mysterious hollows.
Download Learn moreMeasurements made in ultraviolet and infrared light reveal differences in surface materials which help to unravel Mercury's geologic story.
DownloadLearn moreMercury's south pole hosts craters with permanent shadow. This is exciting due to evidence of water ice within such craters.
Download Learn moreMercury as it appeared to MESSENGER following the mission's first flyby of Mercury
Download Learn moreMercury's northern region is dominated by extensive volcanic plains.
Download Learn moreMESSENGER discovered higher amounts of potassium on Mercury's surface than predicted by some models.
Download Learn moreA model based on MESSENGER data produces a view of Mercury's calcium exosphere.
Download Learn moreA wrinkle ridge extends across Mercury's northern volcanic plains.
Download Learn moreThis image shows a perspective view looking toward Mercury's north and colored by topographic height of the surface. Purple colors are the lowest and white is the highest.
Download Learn moreAn enhanced color, global view of Mercury
Download Learn moreMercury's shadowed polar craters provide evidence for hosting water ice.
Download Learn moreApollodorus crater and the radiating troughs of Pantheon Fossae
Download Learn moreA mosaic of highly oblique images shows dramatic details of Hokusai crater.
Download Learn moreA view inside the permanent shadow of Fuller crater, where ice is thought to reside
Download Learn moreThe relatively young Raditladi basin hosts hollows on its peak ring.
Download Learn morePeak-ring basin Derain displays a striking diversity of surface materials.
Download Learn moreMercury, as viewed by MESSENGER during the mission's third Mercury flyby
Download Learn moreThe 200-kilometer-diameter Rustaveli crater and its ejecta field
Download Learn moreVolcanic features dominate the region near Mercury's north pole.
Download Learn moreOn April 30, 2015, the MESSENGER spacecraft impacted Mercury's surface in this region.
Download Learn moreMercury's north polar region is colored by the maximum temperature experienced, showing some shadowed locations are cold enough to host water ice.
Download Learn moreMESSENGER mapped the planet Mercury under a range of lighting conditions, viewing geometries, spatial resolutions, and colors. Four of the most widely used global mosaic views are provided here in a standard image format. In the table below, the data used to produce these mosaics as well as the data for other global views of the planet are provided in formats frequently used by the scientific community. When downloading the mosaic files, please keep in mind that the file size for some of the high-resolution mosaics can be quite large. To access the colorized global digital elevation model (DEM) created from MESSENGER images, visit this USGS website. For information regarding the use of MESSENGER mosaics, see the image use policy.
This mosaic shows Mercury's colors as viewed by placing images from MESSENGER's 1000 nm, 750 nm, and 430 nm narrow-band filters in the red, green, and blue channel respectively. This is not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather by using a wider range of wavelengths, color differences on Mercury's surface can be accentuated beyond those visible to a person. Projection: simple cylindrical, centered on 0° latitude and 0° longitude. Download the full resolution, at 665 meters/pixel (761 MB).
This mosaic shows Mercury's surface in "enhanced color," a term used to describe a color scheme created to emphasize color differences on Mercury's surface. This is not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather by applying mathematical analysis to MESSENGER images, color differences on Mercury's surface can be accentuated beyond those visible to a person. This view uses a global mosaic with 430, 750, and 1000 nm bands and places the second principal component, the first principal component, and the 430/1000 ratio in the red, green, and blue channels respectively. Projection: simple cylindrical, centered on 0° latitude and 0° longitude. Download the full resolution, at 665 meters/pixel (422 MB).
This monochrome morphology mosaic uses images that contain moderate shadows and that consequently highlight the geologic features on Mercury's surface. During MESSENGER's mission, it was possible to acquire higher resolution monochrome images than color images, and hence this mosaic is available at a higher spatial resolution than the color mosaics. Projection: simple cylindrical, centered on 0° latitude and 0° longitude. Download the full resolution, at 166 meters/pixel (2.1 GB). Or download a version at 665 meters/pixel (193 MB), the same resolution as the color mosaics.
This monochrome mosaic complements the morphology mosaic by using images that minimize shadows on the surface, and hence this monochrome mosaic highlights different reflectance properties of the materials on Mercury's surface. During MESSENGER's mission, it was possible to acquire higher resolution monochrome images than color images, and hence this mosaic is available at a higher spatial resolution than the color mosaics. Projection: simple cylindrical, centered on 0° latitude and 0° longitude. Download the full resolution, at 166 meters/pixel (1.9 GB). Or download a version at 665 meters/pixel (170 MB), the same resolution as the color mosaics.
All of the files provided below were assembled by mosaicking products that are available in NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS) from MESSENGER's PDS 16 delivery from May 12, 2017. The table below provides the full global mosaics in some formats commonly used by the scientific community. For additional information and details about each mosaic, or to produce formats that are not provided below, please visit the PDS website to access the full archived MESSENGER files and associated documentation. Additionally, all of the mosaics below can be explored interactively using ACT-REACT QuickMap.
PDS Mosaic Product |
ISIS cubs1 |
GeoTIFF2 |
---|---|---|
8-color (MDR) |
||
5-color (MP5) |
||
3-color (MP3) |
||
Moderate incidence angle (BDR) |
256 ppd (image plane only) (16 GB) |
256 ppd (image plane only) (16 GB) |
Low incidence angle (LOI) |
256 ppd (image plane only) (16 GB) |
256 ppd (image plane only) (16 GB) |
East illumination (HIE) |
256 ppd (image plane only) (16 GB) |
256 ppd (image plane only) (16 GB) |
West illumination (HIW) |
256 ppd (image plane only) (16 GB) |
256 ppd (image plane only) (16 GB) |
1 ISIS cubs are used with the USGS Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS)
2 GeoTIFF files are 32-bit and have NULL pixels with extreme values (see values and explanation here). This often results in the image appearing blank when using a default stretch. A manual stretch to relevant Mercury reflectance values is required; 0 to 0.2 is often a good starting point.
Click on each topic below to view relevant images and data.
Download a kml file with information about the images in the MESSENGER Featured Image Database.
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