Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) and Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 5 km/pixel
Download Page for Higher Resolution Versions: global mosaics page
Scale: Mercury's diameter is 4880 kilometers (3030 miles)
Map Projection: simple cylindrical
Center Latitude, Longitude: 0°, 0°

Of Interest: The mosaics that can be explored interactively using ACT-REACT QuickMap are now also available for download. These mosaics were created using MESSENGER orbital images that were released by NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS) on September 8, 2011. The images cover the first two months of MESSENGER orbital operations. The mosaics are composed of MDIS NAC images and WAC images acquired in the filter centered at 750 nm. Images in the mosaics are selected and prioritized by resolution, mid to high solar incidence angles, and low emission angles. The higher priority images end up on the "top."

The mosaic shown here is at 5 km/pixel, but this mosaic is also available at resolutions of 2.5 km/pixel, 1 km/pixel, and 250 m/pixel. High-resolution mosaics of the polar regions are also available. Visit this global mosaics page to download these high-resolution mosaics.

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 is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER's science goals.

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.