JHUAPL’s MESSENGER Featured Images http://messenger/gallery/sciencePhotos/ APL brings you the latest featured images from MESSENGER. en-us Copyright 2008 JHUAPL New Names for a Second Set of Craters on Mercury (Released: 2008-11-26) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=276 A Rupes and a Ray (Released: 2008-11-24) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=275 Buon Giorno, Raphael! (Released: 2008-11-18) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=274 Peak-Ring Basin Close-Up from the Second Mercury Flyby (Released: 2008-11-11) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=273 A Color Movie of Mercury's Surface (Released: 2008-10-31) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=271 A Movie of MESSENGER's Observations of Mercury's Exosphere (Released: 2008-10-31) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=264 Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) Measures the Depths of Mercury's Craters (Released: 2008-10-31) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=266 A Movie of Magnetometer Measurements from the Second Mercury Flyby (Released: 2008-10-31) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=268 MESSENGER's Departing Shots (Released: 2008-10-31) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=272 Revealing Mercury's Diverse Color Variations (Released: 2008-10-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=269 A Close-Up View of Mercury's Colors (Released: 2008-10-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=270 First Detection of Magnesium in Mercury's Exosphere (Released: 2008-10-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=261 MESSENGER Explores Interactions between Mercury's Magnetosphere and the Solar Wind (Released: 2008-10-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=267 Comparing Mercury's Exosphere between Two Flybys (Released: 2008-10-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=265 Mercury in Color! (Released: 2008-10-29) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=263 Mercury's Topography from the Second Flyby (Released: 2008-10-29) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=262 Magnetometer Results from MESSENGER's Second Mercury Encounter (Released: 2008-10-29) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=260 MESSENGER's Enhanced Coverage of Mercury's Surface (Released: 2008-10-29) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=259 First Simultaneous Measurements of Sodium and Calcium in Mercury's Exosphere (Released: 2008-10-29) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=258 At the Edge of a World (Released: 2008-10-28) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=255 Volcanic Plains on Mercury (Released: 2008-10-27) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=254 Looking Toward Mercury's North Pole (Released: 2008-10-24) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=256 Gazing into the Mariner 10 "Gore" (Released: 2008-10-23) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=253 A View to the South… from the Other Side of Mercury (Released: 2008-10-22) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=252 The Highest-resolution Image from MESSENGER's Second Mercury Flyby (Released: 2008-10-21) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=251 "A" Spectacular Rayed Crater (Released: 2008-10-20) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=250 Mercury Shows Signs of Aging (Released: 2008-10-17) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=249 Mercury as Seen in Both Narrow and Wide Views (Released: 2008-10-16) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=246 Astrolabe Rupes and More (Released: 2008-10-14) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=238 Changing Stripes (Released: 2008-10-14) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=237 A Small Crater Makes a Bright Impact (Released: 2008-10-14) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=236 Exposing Mercury's Colors (Released: 2008-10-14) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=235 Mercury's "True" Color Is in the Eye of the Beholder (Released: 2008-10-14) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=234 What a Difference a Week Can Make (Released: 2008-10-13) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=233 Dark Rays on Mercury (Released: 2008-10-12) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=232 A New Look at Old Terrain (Released: 2008-10-11) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=231 Mercury Through Time (Released: 2008-10-10) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=230 MESSENGER Observes Arecibo (Released: 2008-10-10) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=229 A Cliff Runs Through It (Released: 2008-10-10) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=228 An Intriguing Dark Halo (Released: 2008-10-09) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=227 Looking Back to the Source (Released: 2008-10-09) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=226 Bright Ejecta Rays of Kuiper (Released: 2008-10-09) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=225 Filling the Gaps (Released: 2008-10-08) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=224 MESSENGER Looks Out on a Limb (Released: 2008-10-08) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=223 The First Image after Closest Approach (Released: 2008-10-08) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=222 A View Over Mercury's Horizon (Released: 2008-10-08) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=220 Vivaldi: At Sunset and Now at Sunrise (Released: 2008-10-08) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=219 Detailed Look within a Previously Known Crater (Released: 2008-10-07) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=218 A Close-Up View of Previously Unseen Terrain (Released: 2008-10-07) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=217 MESSENGER Encounters the Innermost Planet (Released: 2008-10-07) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=216 MESSENGER Gathers Unprecedented Data about Mercury's Surface (Released: 2008-10-07) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=215 Mercury as Never Seen Before (Released: 2008-10-07) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=214 Exploring Mercury's Newly Seen Surface and Waiting for More (Released: 2008-10-06) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=213 Counting Down to Closest Approach (Released: 2008-10-05) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=212 Tomorrow, MESSENGER Flies by Mercury! (Released: 2008-10-05) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=211 Mercury Grows Larger in MESSENGER's Sights (Released: 2008-10-05) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=210 MESSENGER on Track for Mercury Flyby (Released: 2008-10-04) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=207 Two Days Until MESSENGER's Encounter with Mercury (Released: 2008-10-04) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=208 On Target for MESSENGER's Flyby (Released: 2008-10-04) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=209 MESSENGER Spies Mercury! (Released: 2008-10-03) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=206 Imaging Plans for MESSENGER's Second Mercury Flyby (Released: 2008-09-29) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=205 MESSENGER and Mercury - Soon to Meet Again! (Released: 2008-09-22) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=204 Exploring Mercury's Surface with MESSENGER's Color Images (Released: 2008-09-16) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=203 Mercury - in 3D! (Released: 2008-09-09) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=202 Faults in the Caloris Basin (Released: 2008-09-03) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=201 Exploring Mercury's "Tail" (Released: 2008-08-26) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=200 Mapping a Volcano (Released: 2008-08-19) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=199 Rupes, Rupes, Every Where (Released: 2008-08-13) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=197 Wrinkle-Ridge Rings on Mercury and Mars (Released: 2008-08-06) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=196 A Closer Look at Albedo and Color Variations on Mercury (Released: 2008-07-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=195 Craters Deformed and Shortened (Released: 2008-07-23) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=194 Caloris Basin - in Color! (Released: 2008-07-15) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=193 MESSENGER Discovers Volcanoes on Mercury (Released: 2008-07-11) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=192 Beagle Rupes Gives Sveinsdóttir an Uplifting Experience (Released: 2008-07-07) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=191 Mercury's Craters from a New Perspective (Released: 2008-06-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=190 By Dawn's Early Light (Released: 2008-06-23) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=189 Peak Rings on Mercury (Released: 2008-06-17) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=188 Young Cunningham Crater in Old Caloris Basin (Released: 2008-06-10) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=187 Voilà! Mercury's Atget (Released: 2008-06-03) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=186 MESSENGER Captures a Shot of Kertész (Released: 2008-05-27) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=185 Xiao Zhao's Rays Paint Mercury's Surface (Released: 2008-05-19) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=184 Bright Rays Extending<br />From a Halo of Darkness<br />Gaze upon Basho (Released: 2008-05-12) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=183 Mercury's First Fossae (Released: 2008-05-05) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=182 New Names for Features on Mercury (Released: 2008-04-28) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=181 See the locations of Mercury's newly named features. Now Introducing: Eminescu (Released: 2008-04-17) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=180 See Mercury's newly named Eminescu crater. Discovering New Rupes on Mercury (Released: 2008-04-08) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=179 Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) Images Mercury from 4 Million Kilometers (Released: 2008-03-31) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=178 Appreciating Mozart in a New Light (Released: 2008-03-27) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=177 For Mariner 10, most of Mozart crater was hidden in darkness. Now, see Mozart in full sunlight. Exploring the Evolution of the Caloris Basin (Released: 2008-03-19) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=174 See ancient fractures within Caloris basin, one of the youngest large impact basins in the Solar System. Making a Mosaic - Part II (Released: 2008-03-11) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=173 See a mosaic created from images taken as MESSENGER approached Mercury. Making a Mosaic (Released: 2008-03-05) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=172 See how MESSENGER acquired images of Mercury to create a high-resolution mosaic. Craters in Caloris (Released: 2008-02-27) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=171 See the latest released image from the Mercury flyby. Craters with Dark Halos on Mercury (Released: 2008-02-21) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=166 See the latest released image of Mercury from the flyby. One Month Ago... (Released: 2008-02-14) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=161 See the latest released image from the Mercury flyby! Mercury's Geological Architecture (Released: 2008-02-06) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=160 See the latest released image from MESSENGER's flyby of Mercury. Mercury Shows Its True Colors (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=143 Mercury's Sodium Tail (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=145 "The Spider" - Radial Troughs within Caloris (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=144 Mercury's Magnetic Field (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=146 First Laser Altimetry for Mercury (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=147 Mercury's Violent History (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=148 See the latest results, as shown at the NASA press conference. The Great Caloris Basin on Mercury (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=149 Seeking Information on Mercury's Mineralogy (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=150 Topographic Close-up (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=151 Mercury's Internal Magnetic Field (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=152 MESSENGER Flies through Mercury's Magnetosphere (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=153 See the latest results, as shown at the NASA press conference. Double Ring Crater (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=154 Mercury's Hydrogen Tail (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=155 MESSENGER Approaches Mercury (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=156 MESSENGER Departs Mercury (Released: 2008-01-30) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=157 MESSENGER's Departing Shots (Released: 2008-01-29) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=142 See the latest released images from MESSENGER's Mercury flyby! A Closer Look at the Previously Unseen Side (Released: 2008-01-28) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=141 See the latest released image from MESSENGER's Mercury flyby! Mercury's Long Cliffs (Released: 2008-01-27) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=140 See the latest released image taken during MESSENGER's historic flyby of Mercury! MESSENGER Looks to the North (Released: 2008-01-26) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=139 See the latest released image taken during MESSENGER's historic flyby of Mercury! MESSENGER's Different Views (Released: 2008-01-25) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=138 See the latest released image from MESSENGER's historic flyby of Mercury! Counting Mercury's Craters (Released: 2008-01-24) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=136 MESSENGER Dances by Matisse (Released: 2008-01-23) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=134 Mercury - in Color! (Released: 2008-01-22) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=132 First MESSENGER Spectrum of Mercury (Released: 2008-01-22) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=133 Looking Toward the South Pole of Mercury (Released: 2008-01-21) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=131 Ridges and Cliffs on Mercury's Surface (Released: 2008-01-20) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=128 MESSENGER Views an Intriguing Crater (Released: 2008-01-20) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=127 First Results from the Mercury Laser Altimeter (Released: 2008-01-19) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=126 MESSENGER's First Image after Closest Approach (Released: 2008-01-19) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=125 Mercury's Complex Cratering History (Released: 2008-01-18) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=124 An Overview of Mercury as MESSENGER Approached (Released: 2008-01-18) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=123 MESSENGER Views Mercury's Horizon (Released: 2008-01-17) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=122 MESSENGER Reveals Mercury's Geological History (Released: 2008-01-17) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=121 Mercury's Cratered Surface (Released: 2008-01-16) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=120 Detailed Close-up of Mercury's Previously Unseen Surface (Released: 2008-01-16) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=119 MESSENGER Reveals Mercury in New Detail (Released: 2008-01-16) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=118 MESSENGER's First Look at Mercury's Previously Unseen Side (Released: 2008-01-15) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=129 Rendezvous with Mercury (Released: 2008-01-15) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=130 Countdown to MESSENGER's Closest Approach with Mercury (Released: 2008-01-14) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=115 MESSENGER's first flyby of Mercury occurred today! View an approach image. MESSENGER Has Mercury in Its Sights (Released: 2008-01-13) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=114 Only one day remains until MESSENGER's Mercury flyby! View the latest approach image. MESSENGER Nears Mercury (Released: 2008-01-12) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=111 Just two days remain until MESSENGER's Mercury flyby! View the latest approach image. MESSENGER Closes in on Mercury (Released: 2008-01-11) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=112 View one of the latest images as MESSENGER prepares for its Mercury flyby on Monday! MESSENGER Readies for Its Encounter with Mercury (Released: 2008-01-10) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=113 View one of MESSENGER's first images of Mercury! MESSENGER Bids Farewell to Venus (Released: 2007-06-07) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=158 Venus 2 Departure Sequence (Released: 2007-06-06) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=87 After taking hundreds of images during the Venus flyby encounter on June 6, 2007, MESSENGER acquired this departure sequence. Venus 2 Approach Image (Released: 2007-06-05) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=88 The MESSENGER spacecraft snapped a series of images as it approached Venus on June 5. The planet is enshrouded by a global layer of clouds that obscures its surface to the MESSENGER Dual Imaging System (MDIS) cameras. This single frame is part of a color sequence taken to help the MESSENGER team calibrate the camera in preparation for the spacecraft's first flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008. Over the next several months the camera team will pore over the 614 images taken during this Venus encounter to ascertain color sensitivity and other optical properties of the instrument. These tasks address two key goals for the camera at Mercury: understanding surface color variations and their relation to compositional variations in the crust, and ensuring accurate cartographic placement of features on Mercury's surface. Preliminary analysis of the Venus flyby images indicates that the cameras are healthy and will be ready for next January's close encounter with Mercury. Approaching Venus (Released: 2006-10-24) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=89 On Oct. 24, 2006, the MESSENGER spacecraft came within 2,990 kilometers (1,860 miles) of Venus during its second planetary encounter. Twenty days before closest approach to Venus the MESSENGER Dual Imaging System snapped pictures of the planet from a distance of about 16.5 million kilometers (10.3 million miles). Despite the low resolution of the image on the left, one can see that Venus is shrouded in a thick blanket of clouds that hides its surface. The picture on the right is the same image expanded four times, clearly showing the dense Venusian cloud cover. Earth Departure Movie (Released: 2005-08-03) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=159 Galapagos Islands (Released: 2005-08-02) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=91 The Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft captured several stunning images of Earth during a gravity assist swingby of its home planet on Aug. 2, 2005. One pictures, snapped when MESSENGER was 34,692 miles (55,831 kilometers) above Earth, shows the Galapagos Islands as tiny specks peeking through an opening in clouds of the brightly lit dayside of the planet. The line dividing day and night cuts a swath through South America, with night about to fall on the western half of the continent. The large bright spot to the west of South America is the Sun's light scattering off ocean waves. Click <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/images/flyby_images/galapagos2_lg.jpg">here</a> for a diagram and close-up of the islands. Click on the image for a bigger image. Twins Image (Released: 2005-08-02) http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?image_id=90 MESSENGER's Earth flyby on Aug. 2, 2005, not only adjusted the spacecraft's path to Mercury - the gravity assist maneuver allowed the spacecraft team to test several MESSENGER science instruments by observing its home planet.<br /><br /> The Mercury Dual Imaging System's wide-angle camera passed with flying colors - several of them, actually - snapping a number of images across its full multispectral capability. The camera is designed to characterize minerals that may have formed in Mercury's crust. Telescope measurements from Earth suggest that Mercury's surface resembles the highlands on our moon: abundant feldspar (anorthite) with limited amounts of iron-rich minerals such as pyroxene and olivine. The MESSENGER team carefully picked 11 filters across visible and near-infrared wavelengths (400 to 1,100 nanometers) known to indicate these and other common silicate minerals. This side-by-side look at Earth illustrates the value of multiple-wavelength imaging. The three-band composite at left is made from filters with peak sensitivities near 480 nm, 560 nm and 630 nm. These filters help distinguish materials with distinct visible color differences (ilmenite, volcanic glasses) but are also very close to the sensitivity of the human eye. (Natural color is somewhat subjective, so this combination of bands is "approximate" natural color.) The spacecraft was 63,950 miles (102,918 kilometers) above Earth when the images were taken.<br /><br /> [What part of Earth is the spacecraft looking at in this image? Click <a href="http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/images/flyby_images/twins_lbl_lg.jpg">here</a> for an annotated, close-up view of Earth's surface from MESSENGER] The camera's computer can mix red, green, and blue (RGB) light in various proportions to create a full spectrum of colors. Infrared images are visualized by substituting one of the RGB components. On the right, the red component is the 750 nm band and green and blue are formed from the 630 nm and the 560 nm bands. Despite the substitution of only one band, the results are dramatically different. Continental areas are mostly red due to the high reflectance of vegetation in the near-infrared. Short wavelength light (blue) is easily scattered in the Earth's atmosphere, producing our blue skies, but also obscuring the surface from MESSENGER's viewpoint. Infrared light is not easily scattered, so images of the Earth remain sharp. The red coloring in the center of the image is a reflection of the Brazilian rain forests and other vegetation in South America.<br /><br /> Once in orbit around Mercury, MESSENGER will map the entire surface in all 11 wavelengths - and at resolutions 10 times better than seen in this view of Earth.<br /><br /> Click on the image for a bigger image.