Date acquired: April 14, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 211242212
Image ID: 128691
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 26.70°
Center Longitude: 299.3° E
Resolution: 365 meters/pixel
Scale: The diameter of Praxiteles is 198 km (123 miles)
Incidence Angle: 32.9°
Emission Angle: 26.0°
Phase Angle: 59.0°
Of Interest: Near the peaks of Praxiteles' inner ring are irregularly shaped depressions surrounded by high-reflectance material with a distinct
color signature. These pits are suspected sites of past volcanic activity.
This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 250-meter/pixel (820 feet/pixel) morphology base map or the 1-kilometer/pixel (0.6 miles/pixel) color base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution during MESSENGER's one-year mission, but several areas of high scientific interest are generally imaged in this mode each week.
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.