After MESSENGER made its closest approach to Mercury, flying just 200
kilometers (124 miles) above the surface, and as soon as the sunlit side
of Mercury was fully in view, MDIS captured the highest-resolution color
images ever obtained of Mercury (500 meters/pixel (0.3 miles/pixel)). This
area was also seen by Mariner 10, whose lower-resolution two-color images
hinted at the variety and nature of regions of different colors, and hence
composition, on Mercury. Viewed here at high-resolution and in enhanced
color, the relationship between the relatively young smooth plains on the
left and older, dark blue material on the right is clear. The younger
smooth plains cover the lower parts of rougher pre-existing topography and
infill older craters, like the 120-kilometer (75-mile) diameter Rudaki
crater lower-left of center (see PIA11400). Dark, relatively blue material was
ejected from the 105-kilometer (65-mile) diameter crater on the right side
of the image, covering older smooth plains. A relatively young, small
crater then excavated through this blue material to reveal the smooth
plains beneath. This scene is centered at 4° South, 310° East and is
outlined by a white rectangle on the enhanced color equatorial view of the
side of Mercury seen during MESSENGER’s second Mercury flyby (see PIA11411).
Date Acquired: October 6, 2008
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
The width of this scene is 620 kilometers (390 miles)
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.