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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Balanchine_Crater-PIA17057-PCF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgBalanchine Crater (CTX Frame - Absolute Natural Colors; credts for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)55 visiteThe Impact Crater located at the center of this scene (such as the one whose Floor is largely covered by extremely bright - and therefore, here, slightly over-exposed - Hollows) has been named "Balanchine", after the choreographer George Balanchine (Leningrad, 1904/New York City - NY - 1983). Now, if you carefully take a look at the Ejecta Blanket which emanates from Balanchine Crater, you may ask yourself what could have caused such an Asymmetric Pattern. Obviously, an absolutely definitive answer to this kind of question, as you should know, cannot be given by anybody, but one reasonable possibility is that the irregularly shaped Ejecta Pattern of Balanchine Crater formed (maybe just in part) on top of a similarly sized, and, of course, pre-existing, Impact Crater.
In this scenario, the older Impact Crater could have unearthed the Lower Reflectance dark-gray Deposit (as a matter of fact, in Absolute Natural Colors this Material looks almost black - blue in the Original NASA false color image-mosaic) from beneath the Surface, while, some time (perhaps a few millions of years) afterwards, a certain portion of them was (unevenly) redistributed all over the Mercurian Surface by the impact that formed Balanchine.
The Cracks that are well visible in the lower left (Sx) quadrant of the mosaic, on the other hand, are part of the Complex System of Graben that cuts the Floor of the giant Caloris Basin, in which Balanchine Crater is located. North is up.
Date acquired: June 29th, 2011
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 217863931, 217863927, 217863923
Images ID: 441964, 441963, 441962
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 39,05° North
Center Longitude: 175,80° East
Resolution: 282 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 39,6° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 50,4° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 6,3°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 40,9°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft Map Projected false color image-mosaic published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 17057) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, magnified 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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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Balanchine_Crater-PIA17057-PCF-LXTT-IPF-2.jpgBalanchine Crater (EDM - Absolute Natural Colors; credts for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)61 visiteThe Impact Crater visible at the center of this scene (such as the one whose Floor is largely covered by extremely bright - and therefore, here, slightly over-exposed - Hollows) has been named "Balanchine", after the choreographer George Balanchine (Leningrad, 1904/New York City - NY - 1983). Now, if you carefully take a look at the Ejecta Blanket which emanates from Balanchine Crater, you may ask yourself what could have caused such an Asymmetric Pattern. Obviously, no one can give an absolutely definitive answer to this kind of question, as you should know, but a reasonable possibility is that the irregularly shaped Ejecta Pattern of Balanchine Crater formed (perhaps just in part) on top of a similarly sized, and pre-existing, Impact Crater.
In this scenario, the older Impact Crater could have unearthed the Lower Reflectance dark-gray Deposit (which, by the way, appear blue in the Original NASA false color image-mosaic) from beneath the Surface, while, some time (perhaps a few millions of years) afterwards, a certain portion of them was (unevenly) redistributed all over the Mercurian Surface by the impact that formed Balanchine.
Date acquired: June 29th, 2011
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 217863931, 217863927, 217863923
Images ID: 441964, 441963, 441962
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 39,05° North
Center Longitude: 175,80° East
Resolution: 282 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 39,6° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 50,4° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 6,3°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 40,9°
This picture (which is a crop taken from an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft Map Projected false color image-mosaic published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 17057) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, magnified 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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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Balzac_Crater_and_others-PIA16907-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgCraters' Variety (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)99 visiteThis oblique view of the Surface of Mercury highlights, from top to bottom, the Impact Craters Balzac, Phidias,Tyagaraja, Stevenson, and Zeami. While named Impact Craters are still sparse across much of the Surface of Mercury, this Region, since it had already been observed by the NASA - Mariner 10 Spacecraft, granted to Planetary Scientists and Researchers plenty of time to propose names to the International Astronomical Union (or IAU, for short) and get them approved. Furthermore, in the NASA - Mariner 10 images of Mercury, Craters like Tyagaraja (located at the center of the image and having a diameter of approx. 97 Km - such as about 60,2 miles) and Zeami were described as hosting "Bright Floor Deposits", but the relatively low resolution at which they were imaged at that time did not allow the Planetary Scientists to carry out a more detailed analysis.
Now, thanks to the imaging capabilities of the cameras onboard the NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft, we know that the Mercurian Impact Craters such as these visible in today's APOD, actually do not host "Bright Floor Deposits" but rather that fascinating (and still far from being fully understood) Features known as "Hollows".
Date acquired: November, 26th, 2012
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 262401199, 262401219, 262401203
Images ID: 3026482, 3026487, 3026483
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 4,64° North
Center Longitude: 210,50° East
Resolution: 698 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 30,2° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 59,8° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 57,5°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 83,8°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft false color image-mosaic published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16907) 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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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Basho_Crater-PIA10650.jpgRays from the Darkness: Basho Crater (MULTISPECTRUM-2; credits: Lunexit)53 visiteThough Basho Crater is only about 80 Km (ABOUT 50 miles) in diameter, its bright rays make it an easily identified feature on Mercury's surface. In addition to the long bright rays, photographs from Mariner 10 showed an intriguing dark halo of material around the Crater, which can be seen in the lower right portion of this Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) image snapped by MESSENGER's Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) on January 14, 2008. The MESSENGER Science Team is using the full color data set obtained with the 11 filters of the Wide Angle Camera (WAC) to investigate the nature and composition of this dark material.
The Crater is named for the 17th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, renowned for his many haiku. MESSENGER's images of Mercury's striking landscape have inspired at least one poet; read Stuart Atkinson's poem " MESSENGER's Memories."MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Basho_Crater-PIA16625-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgBasho Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credts for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)102 visiteToday's APOD (obtained by the NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft during the past month of November) provides us with the best look yet at Basho Crater (approximately 75 Km - such as about 47 miles - in diameter): a (relatively) young Impact Crater located in the Southern Hemisphere of the Planet Mercury. Basho Crater features some of the most striking Albedo (---> Reflectivity) contrasts that can be found on the whole Surface of the Innermost Planet of the Solar System, with both Low-Reflectance Ejecta and High-Reflectance Deposits (probably the most "famous", common and yet highly controversial - as far as its origin is concerned -Mercurian Surface Feature ever discovered: the so-called Hollows).
Date acquired: November, 6th, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 260649832
Image ID: 2901613
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 32,47° South
Center Longitude: 189,2° East
Resolution: 103 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 32,4° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the pictures were taken, was about 57,6° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 4,9°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 32,6°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft color frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16625) 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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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Bek_Crater-PIA16626-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgBek Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credts for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)67 visiteIn this frame, which is a composite of imagest taken by the NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft, now orbiting the Planet Mercury, shows us the beautiful Bright Rays of Bek Crater (whose diameter is about 32 Km - such as approx. 20 miles) which dominate this scene, covering a few nearby Unnamed Impact Craters with Wisps of fresh Material. On the other hand, Lermontov Crater, seen at the bottom of the image, is thought to have been the site of explosive Volcanic Eruptions.
Date acquired: April, 12th, 2011
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 211111707, 211111727, 211111711
Images ID: 122544, 122549, 122545
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 21,31° North
Center Longitude: 308,8° East
Resolution: 401 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 25,8° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the pictures were taken, was about 64,2° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 30,0°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 55,9°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft color image mosaic published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16626) 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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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Benoit_Crater-PIA12428.jpgBenoit Crater and Lange Basin (False Colors; credits: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)54 visiteThis NAC image, acquired during MESSENGER's 1st Mercury Fly-By, shows the Crater Benoit and the Lange Basin.
Benoit Craer has been so named in honor of Rigaud Benoit, a twentieth century Haitian painter (1911-1987), while the Lange Basin is in honor of the American photographer Dorothea Lange (1895-1965).
These particular Craters were proposed for names on the basis of some interesting features of each. Benoit is a small approx. 35-Km-diameter (about 22-mile-diameter) Crater, but its floor is quite unusual, with two mounds that have been suggested to be evidence of intrusive volcanic activity on Mercury.
The larger neighboring Lange Basin appears to have been flooded by lava, with only faint traces remaining of a now buried Inner Ring.
Date Acquired: January 14, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 108828463
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 500 meters/pixel (0,31 miles)
Scale: Lange Basin is approx. 180 Km (about 112 miles) in diameter
Spacecraft Altitude: about 19.700 Km (approx. 12.200 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Berkel_Crater-PIA16890-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgBerkel Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credts for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)86 visiteBerkel Crater (a Mercurian Impact Crater that was so named after the Turkish painter and printmaker, Sabri Berkel) is a so-called "Complex Impact Crater" (approx. 24 Km - such as a little less than 15 miles - in diameter) that sits inside the larger Ellington Basin, which is located in the low Latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere of Mercury. Berkel's interior contains some kind of Material (so far unknown) that, as you can clearly see in today's image, is way darker than the surrounding Terrain; furthermore, a large number of the vey common Mercurian Surface Features, known as "Hollows", can also be seen all over the Floor of the Crater itself.
This image was acquired as a targeted set of stereo images. Targeted Stereo Observations are acquired at resolutions much higher than that of the 200-meter/pixel Stereo Base Map. These targets acquired with the NAC enable the detailed Topography of Mercury's Surface to be determined for a local area of specific interest.
Date acquired: February, 5th, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 4159492
Image ID: 3589683
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 13,85° South
Center Longitude: 26,56° East
Resolution: 71 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 30,3° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 59,7° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 29,3°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 52,6°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft b/w frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16890) has been additionally processed and then 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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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Cervantes_Crater-PIA14251-PCF-LXTT.jpgPortion of the Rim of Cervantes Crater (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)117 visiteThe Rim of the Double-Ring Basin Cervantes cuts through the middle of this NAC image. Cervantes has a diameter of about 213 Km and was named in honor of the Spanish novelist, playwright, and poet Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), best known for his novel Don Quixote.
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 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 (i.e.: high Solar Incidence Angles) and visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features. 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 seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation will unravel the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost Planet.
Date acquired: May, 26th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 214857150
Image ID: 298561
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 73,85° South
Center Longitude: 232,9° East
Resolution: 208 meters/pixel
Scale: This image is approx. 300 Km from the Western Corner to the Eastern Corner
Solar Incidence Angle: 77,8°
Emission Angle: 0,6°
Sun-Target-Spacecraft (such as "Phase") Angle: 78,2°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Copland_Crater-PIA13068.jpgCopland on Mercury (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)125 visiteVisible in the center of this image is the Crater Copland, recently named in honor of the American composer and pianist Aaron Copland.
Aaron Copland and this Crater are both unquestionably worthy candidates for named features on Mercury, but how this specific crater came to be known as Copland has an interesting back-story.
Amateur astronomer Ronald Dantowitz and his colleagues Scott Teare and Marek Kozubal used the Mt. Wilson 60-inch telescope in 1998 to observe a very bright feature on this portion of Mercury's surface, and they assumed that the bright feature was an impact crater.
Mr. Dantowitz expressed his wish that the crater be named "Copland" once better images of the area were obtained from spacecraft. Surprisingly, MESSENGER images from Mercury flyby 3 revealed that the small bright feature, seen at the left edge of this image, is not an impact crater but more closely resembles a Volcanic Vent.
No convention for naming Volcanic Vents on Mercury has yet been adopted, because none were identified prior to MESSENGER's first Mercury flyby. However, even if a convention for naming volcanic features on Mercury is adopted in the future, the naming rules will likely differ from those for impact craters, and thus "Copland" would probably not be an acceptable name for the bright volcanic feature.
A MESSENGER team member corresponded with Mr. Dantowitz and suggested that the name Copland be proposed instead for a large crater nearby.
He agreed, and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved the name Copland on March 3, 2010. Copland crater is flooded with volcanic smooth plains material that could be related to the activity that formed the bright vent.
Date Acquired: September 29, 2009
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Scale: Copland crater has a diameter of about 208 Km (approx. 129 miles)
Projection: This image is a portion of the NAC approach mosaic from Mercury flyby 3. It is shown in a simple cylindrical map projection with a resolution of roughly 500 meters/pixel (approx. 0,31 miles/pixel).MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Crater_Cluster-208907.jpgCraterland53 visiteMESSENGER's Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) acquired this view of Mercury’s surface illuminated obliquely from the right by the Sun. The unnamed crater (about 52 Km in diameter) in the center of the image displays a telephone-shaped collapse feature on its floor.
Such a collapse feature, not seen on the floors of other craters in this image, could reflect past volcanic activity at and just below the surface of this particular crater.
The crater is located in the Southern Hemisphere of Mercury, on the side that was not viewed by Mariner 10 during any of its three flybys (1974-1975).
This scene was imaged while MESSENGER was departing from Mercury from a distance of 19.300 Km (approx. 12.000 miles), about 1 hour after the spacecraft's closest encounter with Mercury.
The image is of a region approx. 236 Km (about 147 miles) across, and craters as small as 1,6 Km (1 mile) can be seen. MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Crater_Field-208852.jpgFresh Primary Impact Crater and Secondary Craters (HR)53 visiteOn January 14, 2008, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft observed about half of the hemisphere not seen by Mariner 10. This image shows part of a large, fresh crater with secondary crater chains located near Mercury’s Equator on the side of the Planet newly imaged by MESSENGER.
Large, flat-floored craters show terraced rims from post-impact collapse of their newly formed walls. The hundreds of secondary impactors that are excavated from the Planet’s surface by an incoming object, create long, linear crater chains radial to the main crater.
These chains, in addition to the rest of the ejecta blanket, create the complicated, hilly terrain surrounding the primary crater in the image. By counting craters that have formed since the impact event, the age of the crater can be estimated.
This count can then be compared with a similar count for the crater floor to determine whether any material has partially filled the crater since its formation. With their large size and production of abundant secondary craters, these flat-floored craters both illuminate and confound the study of the geological history of Mercury. MareKromium
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