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ZX-Mercury-PIA13840.jpgCrescent Mercury (an Image-Mosaic by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)87 visiteThis HR mosaic of NAC images shows Mercury as it appeared to MESSENGER as the Spacecraft departed the Planet following its first mission's Fly-By. This mosaic resembles the historic first image transmitted back to Earth after that Fly-By and shows a portion of the Planet never previously seen by Spacecrafts.
Date Acquired: January, 14th, 2008
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)MareKromium
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ZY-Mercury-PCF-LXTT.jpgThe "Face" of Mercury (Enhanced Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)189 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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ZY-Mercury-PIA13840-PCF-LXTT.jpgCrescent Mercury (an Image-Mosaic by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington - Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)88 visiteThis HR mosaic of NAC images shows Mercury as it appeared to MESSENGER as the Spacecraft departed the Planet following its first mission's Fly-By. This mosaic resembles the historic first image transmitted back to Earth after that Fly-By and shows a portion of the Planet never previously seen by Spacecrafts.
Date Acquired: January, 14th, 2008
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)MareKromium
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ZZ-Craters-Mercury-Secondary_Craters_Field-PIA14379.jpgSecondary Crater-Chains or Signs of multiple and simultaneous Cometary Impacts? (Enhanced Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)141 visiteCaption NASA:"This view captured by MESSENGER's wide angle camera (WAC) shows many Secondary Crater-Chains that originated from a Primary Impact Crater located outside this image, to the West. The Secondary Crater-Chains are formed as the Parent Crater-forming event launches Ejecta into the surrounding area. The chunks of Ejecta dig out their own craters which sometimes overlap to form a long valley-like depression. These features are striking though not uncommon on Mercury's battered Surface. Some other examples of Secondary Craters can be found at Abedin Crater".
Date acquired: April, 30th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 212677081
Image ID: 196161
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 63,76°
Center Longitude: 198,7° East
Resolution: 162 meters/pixel
Scale: this image is about 165 Km across
Incidence Angle: 79,9°
Emission Angle: 1,1°
Sun-Target-Spacecraft (such as "Phase") Angle: 81,0°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Caloris_Basin-PIA13675-PCF-LXTT-3.jpgCaloris Basin (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)127 visiteThis view is a mosaic of multiple MDIS images and shows the Caloris Basin in its entirety. The Caloris Basin was discovered in 1974 from Mariner 10 images, but when Mariner 10 flew-by Mercury, only the Eastern half of the Basin was in daylight. During MESSENGER's first Mercury flyby, the Spacecraft was able to acquire High-Resolution images of the entire Basin, revealing the full extent of this Great Basin for the first time.
Geologists use the term "Basin" to refer to an impact crater that is larger than about 300 Km (186,3 miles) in diameter and often displays multiple Concentric Rings. Caloris has one Main Topographic Ring (1550-Km diameter). Patterns of concentric structures both inside and outside the Main Ring have been mapped and interpreted as evidence for additional Rings.
Caloris is one of the largest Impact Basins in the Solar System, and MESSENGER's orbital observations will provide much more data for this impressive geologic feature, including high-resolution color and low-Sun images for discerning morphology. This mosaic was obtained when the Sun was high overhead. Such lighting conditions emphasize brightness differences among the Surface Materials, with little shadowing to provide a sense of the texture and topography.
The interior of the Basin has been filled with lighter-hued Plains, which in turn have been modified by Impact Craters. These Craters range from small bright dots to larger Craters with bright Rays. Some of the larger Craters exhibit dark Rims. The dark Rims suggest that dark material underlies the Interior Plains in some places and was exposed through the formation of those Impact Craters.
Date Acquired: January, 14th, 2008
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Scale: Caloris Basin is roughly 1550 Km in diameter (about 962,55 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Caloris_Basin.jpgCaloris Basin: fascinating "Rayed Crater" or an extremely old "Shield Volcano"?53 visiteThe NAC of the MDIS on the MESSENGER Spacecraft obtained HR images of the floor of the Caloris Basin on January 14, 2008. Near the center of the basin, an area unseen by Mariner 10, this remarkable feature – nicknamed “The Spider” by the Science Team – was revealed. A set of troughs radiates outward in a geometry unlike anything seen by Mariner 10. The radial troughs are interpreted to be the result of extension (breaking apart) of the floor materials that filled the Caloris Basin after its formation. Other troughs near the center form a polygonal pattern. This type of polygonal pattern of troughs is also seen along the interior margin of the Caloris Basin. An impact crater about 40 Km (~25 miles) in diameter appears to be centered on “The Spider.” The straight-line segments of the crater walls may have been influenced by preexisting extensional troughs, but some of the troughs may have formed at the time that the crater was excavated.
Nota Lunexit: portando il massimo rispetto per quanto esposto e dedotto nella caption NASA, noi riteniamo - dopo aver ATTENTAMENTE ESAMINATO le differenti ed intricate surface features di "Spider Crater" - che il rilievo ripreso dalla Sonda NASA Messenger potrebbe NON ESSERE un impact crater con raggiatura intensa ed estesa, bensì quello che resta di un antichissimo Shield Volcano (probabilmente simile, per certi versi, al gigante Ascraeus Mons) oppure il remnant di una Caldera Vulcanica la quale è ormai quasi completamente collassata (es.: la Summit Caldera del Vulcano Marziano Hecates Tholus). In effetti, se si eccettua il Central Peak (a nostro avviso l'unica evidenza che ha "suggerito" l'ipotesi "craterica" come ipotesi base), le fattezze dello "Spider" sono, da un lato, molto lontane dalle fattezze proprie e tipiche dei crateri da impatto ed invece molto simili, dall'altro, alle fattezze proprie e tipiche dei vulcani (osservate le ripide e scoscese pareti Nord del rilievo le quali sono assolutamente analoghe alle pareti delle Summit Calderae di Olympus ed Ascraeus nonchè MOLTO SIMILI alla Culann-Tohill Patera di Io). Osservate le tracce di "Lava Flows" visibili sul versante Sud dello "Spider" ad ore 07:00 ed 08:00 e, quale intrigante ed ulteriore evidenza della possibile origine vulcanica del rilievo, la colorizzazione e la texture dei dintorni del medesimo (nettamente più scura del resto del paesaggio e, anche da e per questo aspetto, molto simile alle textures e colorizzazioni dei dintorni dei già menzionati Vulcani Marziani (e non solo).
Insomma: noi non stiamo dicendo che gli Scienziati di Pasadena hanno sbagliato...Vi stiamo solo suggerendo una "visione alternativa" (e, a nostro avviso, non "campata per aria"...) del medesimo rilievo. I Vostri commenti e le Vostre riflessioni saranno, come sempre, tenute in considerazione.MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Caloris_Montes-546192main_messenger_orbit_image20110517_1_full_full.jpgCaloris Montes (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)131 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Cliffs-209522.jpgMercury's Long Cliffs53 visiteAs the MESSENGER team continues to study the HR images taken during the Mercury flyby encounter on January 14, 2008, scarps (cliffs) that extend for long distances are discovered. This frame, taken by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), shows a Region of Mercury's surface previously unseen by spacecraft and a large scarp crossing vertically through the scene, on the far right of the image. This scarp is the northern continuation of the one seen in the NAC image released on January 16. The width of this image is about 200 Km (approx. 125 miles), showing that these scarps can be hundreds of kilometers long on Mercury.
The presence of many long and high scarps, as discovered from pictures from the Mariner 10 Mission in 1974 and 1975, suggests a history for Mercury that is unlike that of any of the other Planets in the Solar System. These giant scarps are believed to have formed when Mercury’s interior cooled and the entire Planet shrank slightly as a result.
However, Mariner 10 was able to view less than half the planet, so the global extent of these scarps has been unknown. MESSENGER images, like this one, are providing the first high-resolution looks at many areas on Mercury's surface, and science team members are busy mapping these newly discovered scarps to see whether they are common everywhere on the planet.
Mission Elapsed Time (MET) of image: 108826206
MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Cliffs_and_Ridges-208889-MZO-MESSENGER_012008.jpgRidges and Cliffs53 visiteBoth it and the lighter-colored ridge that extends downward from it resemble wrinkle ridges that are common on the large Volcanic Plains, or "Maria," on the Moon.
The MESSENGER science team is studying what features like these reveal about the interior cooling history of Mercury.
Ghostly remnants of a few craters are seen on the right side of this image, possibly indicating that once-pristine, bowl-shaped craters (like those on the large crater’s floor) have been subsequently flooded by volcanism or some other plains-forming process.
A complex history of geological evolution is recorded in this frame from the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), part of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) instrument, taken during MESSENGER’s close flyby of Mercury on January 14, 2008.
Part of an old, large crater occupies most of the lower left portion of the frame. An arrangement of ridges and cliffs in the shape of a "Y" crosses the crater’s floor.
The shadows defining the ridges are cast on the floor of the crater by the Sun shining from the right, indicating a descending stair-step of plains. The main, right-hand branch of the "Y" crosses the crater floor, the crater rim, and continues off the top edge of the picture; it appears to be a classic “lobate scarp” (irregularly shaped cliff) common in all areas of Mercury imaged so far. These lobate scarps were formed during a period when Mercury’s crust was contracting as the planet cooled. In contrast, the branch of the Y to the left ends at the crater rim and is restricted to the floor of the crater.
This image was taken 18 minutes after close approach, when MESSENGER was about 5000 Km (about 3000 miles) away from Mercury.
The image is about 200 Km (approx. 125 miles) across, and features as small as about 400 mt (about 400 yards) can be resolved. MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Crater_Chain-PIA15156-PCF-LXTT.jpgSecondary Crater Chains (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)190 visiteThis image, taken with the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), shows a pair of Secondary Crater Chains. These features are formed when Ejecta from a Primary iImpact is thrown outward from the growing crater cavity. As chunks of Ejecta fall back to the Surface, they can form Chains of Secondary Craters that often overlap.
This image was acquired as part of MDIS's High-Resolution Surface Morphology Base Map. The surface morphology base map will cover more than 90% of Mercury's Surface with an average resolution of approx. 250 meters/pixel (0,16 miles/pixel or 820 feet/pixel).
Images acquired for the Surface Morphology Base Map typically have off-vertical Sun angles (such as High Solar Incidence Angles, meaning low Sun over the Local Horizon ) and visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features.
Date acquired: October 28, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 228324766
Image ID: 943677
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 2,94° North
Center Longitude: 160,5° East
Resolution: 193 meters/pixel
Scale: this frame is about 100 Km (approx. 62 miles) across
Solar Incidence Angle: 87,3° (meaning that the Sun is about 2,7° above the Local Horizon)
Emission Angle: 17,3°
Sun-Mercury-MESSENGER (or "Phase") Angle: 104,7°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Crater_Chains-PIA14529-PCF-LXTT.jpgFirdousi's Smooth Plains & Crater Chains (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team) 143 visiteDate acquired: July, 17, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 219349510, 219349512, 219349518
Image ID: 513659, 513658, 513662
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 9 (1000 nanometers), 7 (750 nanometers), 6 (433 nanometers) as red-green-blue
Center Latitude: 6,77° North
Center Longitude: 69,01° East
Resolution: 1330 meters/pixel
Scale: the large crater in the lower left quadrant of this image is about 134 Km (83,214 miles) in diameter
Solar Incidence Angle: 52,4°
Emission Angle: 0,3°
Sun-Mercury-Spacecraft (or "Phase") Angle: 52,4°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Atget_Crater-PIA10934.jpgAtget Crater (natural colors; credits: Lunexit)53 visiteRecently named for the French photographer Eugène Atget, Atget Crater, seen in the middle of the lower portion of this NAC image, is distinctive on Mercury's Surface due to its dark color. Atget Crater is located within Caloris Basin, near Apollodorus Crater and Pantheon Fossae, which are also both visible in this image to the North-West of Atget. The dark color of the floor of Atget is in contrast to other craters within Caloris Basin that exhibit bright materials on their floors, such as the craters Kertész and Sander. Other craters on Mercury, such as Basho and Neruda, have halos of dark material but the dark material does not cover the crater floors. Understanding the variety of bright and dark materials associated with different craters will provide insight into Mercury's composition and the processes that acted on Mercury's Surface.
Date Acquired: January 14, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET: 108828540
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 520 meters/pixel (0,32 miles/pixel)
Scale: This image shows a scene about 530 Km (approx. 330 miles) across
Spacecraft Altitude: about 20.300 Km (approx. 12.600 miles)MareKromium
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