Date acquired: January 20, 2015
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 64084344
Image ID: 7831085
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 39.5 °S
Center Longitude: 82.5 °E
Center Resolution: 318 meters/pixel
Scale: The crater in the upper right has a diameter of 42 kilometers (26 mi.)

Of Interest: In this view, looking towards Mercury's southern horizon, the rim of Rembrandt basin extends across the middle of the image. With a diameter of 716 kilometers (445 mi.), Rembrandt basin is one of the largest basins on Mercury. A variety of tectonic features are associated with the basin, including Enterprise Rupes, among the largest contractional landforms on the planet.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's limb imaging campaign. Once per week, MDIS captures images of Mercury's limb, with an emphasis on imaging the southern hemisphere limb. These limb images provide information about Mercury's shape and complement measurements of topography made by the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) of Mercury's northern hemisphere.

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. In the mission's more than three years of orbital operations, MESSENGER has acquired over 250,000 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.