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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA10359.jpgCaloris Basin (natural colors; credits: Lunexit)53 visiteThis natural-color image of Mercury shows the great Caloris Impact Basin (see also PIA10383), visible in this image as a large, circular feature in the center of the picture. The contrast between the colors of the Caloris Basin Floor and those of the surrounding plains indicate that the composition of Mercury's surface is variable. Many additional geological features with intriguing color signatures can be identified in this image. For example, the bright spots just inside the rim of Caloris Basin are thought to mark the location of Volcanic Features, such as the volcano shown in this previously released Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) image PIA10942.
MESSENGER Science Team members are studying these regional color variations in detail, to determine the different mineral compositions of Mercury's surface and to understand the geologic processes that have acted on it. (...)
Date Acquired: January 14, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Times (MET): 108827278-108827328
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: about 2,3 Km (approx. 1,4 miles/pixel)
Scale: Caloris Basin is about 1550 Km in diameter (approx. 960 miles)
Spacecraft Altitude: approx. 13.000 Km (about 8000 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA10936.jpgDürer Basin (natural colors; credits: Lunexit)53 visiteMESSENGER snapped this image of Mercury’s horizon about 56 minutes before the Spacecraft’s closest pass by the Planet. The distinctive peak-ring basin Dürer (named from Mariner 10 photos for the German artist Albrecht Dürer) is visible.
The smaller crater Mickiewicz (named for the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz) can also be seen, with a smaller central peak-ring structure in the middle of its crater floor.
Craters form ring structures during the impact process that creates the crater, and the number and characteristics of the rings depend on the crater’s size. Raditladi, imaged for the first time by MESSENGER and recently named, also shows a pronounced peak-ring structure.
Date Acquired: January 14, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 108821505
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Scale: Dürer crater is about 190 Km (approx. 120 miles) in diameter
Spacecraft Altitude: about 18.300 Km (approx. 11.400 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA10938.jpgMercury’s Craters from a New Perspective54 visiteAs MESSENGER approached Mercury, the NAC acquired images to create a mosaic of the entire Planet. The mosaic shown here was created from about half of those images and is shown in an orthographic projection. This view is in contrast to the cylindrical equidistant map mosaic previously released. For this mosaic, an orthographic projection was used to create a view that has the perspective that one would see from deep space. Over three decades earlier, Mariner 10 viewed this portion of Mercury’s Surface, and the craters that were named on the basis of those images are labeled on this mosaic.
The MESSENGER images of this same territory are allowing scientists to study Mercury’s surface under different illumination conditions, and these complementary views provide new insight into the nature of the geologic features on Mercury.
Date Acquired: January 14, 2008
Instrument:Mosaic created with images taken by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 1,5 Km/pixel (0,93 miles/pixel)
Scale: this mosaic shows Mercury from the Equator nearly to the North Pole, a distance of about one Mercury radius (2440 Km, such as approx. 1516 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA11374-0.jpgA View to the South…from the Other Side of Mercury (Extremely Enhanced Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)54 visiteMESSENGER’s 2nd Mercury flyby passed over the opposite side of the Planet from that seen during the Mission’s 1st Mercury encounter. Thus, if one could follow this view obtained by the NAC during the 2nd flyby toward the South, beyond Mercury’s South Pole, it would lead to the Surface seen in an image from MESSENGER’s 1st Mercury flyby (see PIA10187).
Visible in the recently obtained image shown here are many features also seen by Mariner 10: Shevchenko crater named for the 19th century Ukrainian poet, Khansa for the Arabic poet of the 7th century, Rabelais for the Renaissance French writer, Holberg for the Norwegian-Danish writer of the 18th century, Spitteler for the Swiss epic poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919, Rameau for the Baroque-era French composer, Puccini for the Italian composer of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and Horace for the ancient Roman poet. Discovery Rupes cuts through Rameau and is named for the ship of English explorer Captain James Cook.
Date Acquired: October 6, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 131773823
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 510 meters/pixel (0,32 miles/pixel) at the top of the image
Scale: Shevchenko crater is approx. 137 Km (about 85 miles) in diameter
Spacecraft Altitude: approx. 20.000 Km (about 12.400 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA12046.jpgMercurian Limb and Navoi Crater (Natural Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)54 visiteAt the center of this NAC image is the crater Navoi, named in November 2008 for the Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi (1441/1501 - see also PIA11762).
Located in the far north of Mercury’s Northern Hemisphere, Navoi can be seen clearly as a bright orange feature near the top of a previously released enhanced-color Wide Angle Camera (WAC) image of the Caloris Basin (part of which is shown in this release) (see PIA10359). As seen in that color WAC image, Navoi contains uncommon reddish material that indicates a different rock composition from its surroundings. In the high-resolution NAC image shown here, Navoi also appears to have an irregularly shaped depression in its center. Such depressions have been seen elsewhere on Mercury, including within Praxiteles Crater (see PIA12040), and may indicate past volcanic activity.
Date Acquired: January 14, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 108828804
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 550 meters/pixel (0,34 miles)
Scale: Navoi is about 66 Km (approx. 41 miles) in diameter
Spacecraft Altitude: approx. 21.700 Km (about 13.500 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA12047.jpgMercurian Limb with Rembrandt Basin (Natural Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)54 visiteThis mosaic was assembled using NAC images acquired as the MESSENGER spacecraft approached the Planet during the mission's second Mercury flyby. The Rembrandt Impact Basin is seen at the center of the mosaic, as night was falling across the Basin's Eastern Edge. An image similar to this one appears on the cover of the 1st of May issue of the "Science" magazine, which contains four articles on the latest results from that flyby. Click here to view more materials presented during a NASA media teleconference about these latest findings.
Date Acquired: October 6, 2008
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Scale: Rembrandt Basin is approx. 715 Km (about 444 miles) in diameterMareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA12306.jpgBehind the Sun54 visiteAs MESSENGER approached Mercury during the Spacecraft's 3rd Mercury flyby, the Solar System's innermost Planet appeared to the imaging system as a sunlit crescent against the blackness of space. About 78 minutes prior to closest approach, the NAC captured this striking high-resolution image of the northernmost Region of Mercury's surface that was visible to the camera and illuminated by sunlight. The brightly lit North-Eastern walls of large impact craters can be seen near the horizon, catching the grazing rays of the Sun. The high Sun angle also accentuates wrinkle ridges winding across the smooth plains. In the foreground, features cast long shadows and the Terminator separates day from night.
Date Acquired: September 29, 2009
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 162744006
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Scale: The crater near the middle of the left edge of the image is approximately 100 Km (about 60 miles) in diameter
Spacecraft Altitude: about 16.200 Km (approx. 10.100 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA14190-PCF-LXTT-0.jpgMercurian Limb159 visiteImage Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 209890193, 209890197, 209890213
Image ID: 65109, 65110, 65114
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 6,7,9 (433, 749, 996 nanometers wavelength)
Center Latitude: 3,1° North
Center Longitude: 352,3° East
Resolution: approx. 1,5 Km/pixel
Nota Lunexit: abbiamo operato una leggerissima saturazione del frame NASA-Original per evidenziare come una "fetta" (decisamente abbondante) del frame - "fetta" relativa allo Spazio circum-Mercuriano - SEMBRA essere stata, di fatto, rimossa (od oscurata). Sia detto con chiarezza: questo è quello che appare dalla semplice analisi del frame, una volta operata - ripetiamo - una leggerissima "schiaritura" (over-saturation) dell'immagine. Quali i motivi di questa operazione di make-up (se di make-up effettivamente si trattasse)? Non ne abbiamo idea. Ma le Vostre opinioni al riguardo saranno, come sempre, apprezzate.MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA14190-PCF-LXTT-1.jpgThe Limb of Mercury (Enhanced Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)136 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA14250-PCF-LXTT-1.jpgCrescent Mercury (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)68 visiteMercury forms a beautiful crescent shape in this image, acquired as the MESSENGER Spacecraft was high above Mercury's Southern Hemisphere. On the left side is the Terminator, dividing the day from night. On the right side is the sunlit Limb, separating Mercury from the darkness of (the Inner) Space.
This image was acquired as part of MDIS's limb imaging campaign. Once per week, MDIS captures images of Mercury's Limb, with an emphasis on imaging the Southern Hemisphere Limb. These Limb images provide information about Mercury's shape and complement measurements of topography made by the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) of Mercury's Northern Hemisphere.
On March 17, 2011 (March 18, 2011, UTC), MESSENGER became the first Spacecraft ever to orbit the planet Mercury. The mission is currently in its commissioning phase, during which Spacecraft and instrument performance are verified through a series of specially designed checkout activities. In the course of the one-year primary mission, the Spacecraft's 7 scientific instruments and radio science investigation will unravel the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost Planet.
Date acquired: May, 24th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 214697006
Image ID: 290397
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 53,01° South
Center Longitude: 116,7° East
Resolution: 2827 meters/pixel
Scale: Mercury's radius is about 2440 Km (approx. 1520 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA14551-pcf-lxtt.jpgMercurian Limb (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)126 visiteThe Rays apparent in this spectacular Limb image of Mercury come from Debussy, the sharp Crater near the Terminator. This dominant Crater on Mercury was also a part of MESSENGER's historic image of Mercury- the first image ever to be taken from a spacecraft in orbit about this Planet. Readers may also notice a streak in the blackness of space in the top left corner of the image. This artifact was produced by a Cosmic Ray hitting the camera's CCD detector while the image was being collected.
This image was acquired as part of MDIS's Limb imaging campaign. Once per week, MDIS captures images of Mercury's Limb, with an emphasis on imaging the Southern Hemisphere's Limb. These Limb images provide information about Mercury's shape and complement measurements of topography made by the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) of Mercury's Northern Hemisphere.
Date of acquisition: July, 26th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 220137668
Image ID: 550504
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 27,90° South
Center Longitude: 29,17° East
Resolution: 2783 meters/pixel
Scale: Mercury's radius is approximately 2440 km (about 1515,24 miles)
Solar Incidence Angle: 65,1°
Emission Angle: 48,2°
Sun-Mercury-Spacecraft (i.e.: "Phase") Angle: 95,3°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Limb-PIA16299-PCF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgOn the Limb... (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color. Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)60 visiteEven though quite a few Impact Craters are visible in this Absolute Natural Color view of Mercury's Limb, the Crater Degas (whose diameter is approx. 55 Km) gets easily noticed. Located near the center of the image, the distinctive gray color of the Low-Reflectance (---> Albedo) Material associated with Degas Crater (Material that covers most of the Floor, the Inner and Outer Rim, as well as a little bit of the Surface located in close proximity with the Crater itself) makes a clear contrast with the surrounding Terrain and neighboring Craters.
This image was acquired as a Targeted Observation that occurred simultaneously with a measurement carried out by the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS). Targeted Observations that involve both MDIS and MASCS, once the data from both instruments are combined, facilitate a better understanding of the color and reflectance of small-scale Geologic Features which are present on the Surface of Mercury.
Date acquired: October, 6th, 2012
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 258052701, 258052721, 258052705
Images ID: 2717216, 2717221, 2717217
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 35,98° North
Center Longitude: 231,2° East
Center Resolution: 533 meters/pixel
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft color frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16299) has been additionally processed and then re-colorized in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft and then looked down, towards the Surface of Mercury), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team. Different colors, as well as different shades of the same color, mean, among other things, the existence of different Elements (Minerals) present on the Surface of Mercury, each having a different Albedo (---> Reflectivity) and Chemical Composition.MareKromium
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