Date acquired: February 01, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 2001572
Image ID: 3436074
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 54.87°
Center Longitude: 6.15° E
Resolution: 234 meters/pixel
Scale: The large crater is 64 km in diameter (40 miles).
Incidence Angle: 54.9°
Emission Angle: 4.5°
Phase Angle: 50.4°

Of Interest: This unnamed complex crater in Mercury's northern hemisphere has produced crater chains. These chains form when a crater ejects material that then plummets towards the surface, producing more craters, often in long linear chains. Another set of crater chains can be seen within the large crater in this image, which most likely originated from the crater Hokusai. Since Hokusai's crater chains lie on top of the crater in this image, the crater Hokusai must be younger!

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution stereo imaging campaign. Images from the stereo imaging campaign are used in combination with the surface morphology base map or the albedo base map to create high-resolution stereo views of Mercury's surface, with an average resolution of 200 meters/pixel. Viewing the surface under the same Sun illumination conditions but from two or more viewing angles enables information about the small-scale topography of Mercury's surface to be obtained.

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. During the first two years of orbital operations, MESSENGER acquired over 150,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER is capable of continuing orbital operations until early 2015.

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

For information regarding the use of MESSENGER images, see the image use policy.