Date acquired: June 30, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 249556588, 249556584, 249556580
Image ID: 2113064, 2113063, 2113062
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 50.04°
Center Longitude: 93.46° E
Resolution: 141 meters/pixel
Scale: This crater is approximately 31 km (19 mi.) in diameter.
Incidence Angle: 58.2°
Emission Angle: 23.5°
Phase Angle: 81.7°

Of Interest: This image features another crater that you could name! The bright rays and crisp morphology of the crater walls indicate that it is relatively young. The central peak formed from material of a lower albedo than the surrounding surface, uplifted from depth during the impact that created the crater.

This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted color observation. Targeted color observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions higher than the 1-kilometer/pixel 8-color base map. During MESSENGER's one-year primary mission, hundreds of targeted color observations were obtained. During MESSENGER's extended mission, high-resolution targeted color observations are more rare, as the 3-color base map covered Mercury's northern hemisphere with the highest-resolution color images that are possible.

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.