Instrument: Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 58.38°
Center Longitude: 79.79° E
Scale: Rustaveli has a diameter of 200 kilometers (124 miles)

Of Interest: This image shows the large Rustaveli basin on the right portion of the view. Named in 2012 after Shota Rustaveli (1172-1216), a Georgian poet of the 12th century, this basin has a smooth floor and hints of a peak-ring structure. In particular, this mosaic shows details of Rustaveli's well-preserved ejecta field.

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 four years of orbital operations, MESSENGER has acquired over 250,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER's highly successful orbital mission is about to come to an end, as the spacecraft runs out of propellant and the force of solar gravity causes it to impact the surface of Mercury in April 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.