Nine different monochrome limb images of Mercury's surface, taken one after another in a single sequence by MDIS's Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), were combined to make this mosaic, providing an interesting and beautiful perspective of the surface of Mercury looking toward the horizon. The rough terrain and ridges in this oblique limb view are part of the Van Eyck Formation, which was formed by ejecta from the Caloris basin. Click here to learn more about how this mosaic was made and to see what this area of Mercury looks like from an overhead view.
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.
Date acquired: June 03, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 215589920-215589952
Image ID: 333374-333382
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 46°
Center Longitude: 190° E
Scale: The largest crater in the mosaic is approximately 17 km (10.6 mi.) in diameter.
These images are from MESSENGER, a NASA Discovery mission to conduct the first orbital study of the innermost planet, Mercury. For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.