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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Faulkner_Crater-PIA16908-PCF-LXTT-IPF-0.jpgFaulkner Crater (CTX Frame - Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)114 visiteIn this picture, taken by the NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft, we can see relatively young and smooth Lava Plains which have filled and partially (actually, almost completely) buried the Mercurian Faulkner Crater (approx. 168 Km - such as about 104,32 miles - in diameter), leaving only the Northern three-quarters of its highly degraded Rim visible. These smooth Lava Plains, which have relatively few superposed Impact Craters (and that is why they can be considered - always relatively speaking - "young") and appear of a light brown-pink color in this Absolute Natural Colors image, were - likely - emplaced when powerful Volcanic Flows breached Faulkner's Southern Rim, invaded the whole Floor of the Crater and then set, leaving only the highest-standing portions of Terrain (such as, as we wrote herebefore, some part of its Northern Rim) almost intact.
Date acquired: January, 19th, 2013
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 878881, 878901, 878885
Images ID: 3356193, 3356198, 3356194
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 8,61° North
Center Longitude: 77,37° East
Resolution: 299 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 36,5° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 53,5° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 43,6°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 78,1°
This picture (which has been cropped from an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft false color image-mosaic published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16908) 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-Faulkner_Crater-PIA16908-PCF-LXTT-IPF-1.jpgFaulkner Crater (EDM - Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)109 visiteIn this picture, taken by the NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft, we can see relatively young and smooth Lava Plains which have filled and partially (actually, almost completely) buried the Mercurian Faulkner Crater (approx. 168 Km - such as about 104,32 miles - in diameter), leaving only the Northern three-quarters of its highly degraded Rim visible. These smooth Lava Plains, which have relatively few superposed Impact Craters (and that is why they can be considered - always relatively speaking - "young") and appear of a light brown-pink color in this Absolute Natural Colors image, were - likely - emplaced when powerful Volcanic Flows breached Faulkner's Southern Rim, invaded the whole Floor of the Crater and then set, leaving only the highest-standing portions of Terrain (such as, as we wrote herebefore, some part of its Northern Rim) almost intact.
Date acquired: January, 19th, 2013
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 878881, 878901, 878885
Images ID: 3356193, 3356198, 3356194
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 8,61° North
Center Longitude: 77,37° East
Resolution: 299 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 36,5° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 53,5° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 43,6°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 78,1°
This picture (which has been cropped from an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft false color image-mosaic published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16908) 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-Geddes_Crater-PIA16302-PCF-LXTT-IPF-2.jpgCollapse Pit inside Geddes Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)80 visiteGeddes Crater (so named, in March 2010, in honor of Wilhelmina Geddes (1887 - 1955), an Irish stained glass and graphic artist) is well known to be a Mercurian extremely geologically interesting Impact Feature. As you know, the Ridge of Antoniadi Dorsum bisects the Crater, and in the center of the Crater's Floor there is a large Depression with a distinctive orangish hue: a color similar to the one seen in other areas (still on Mercury and elsewhere in the Solar System, such as, for instance, on our Moon) which are (better yet: were) associated with Explosive Volcanism or other phenomena of (perhaps Sulphurous-rich) Outgassing. This recently acquired image reveals new, High-Resolution detail of such a potentially Volcanic Depression (---> a Volcanic - in origin - Collapse Pit, to be more specific, which might have formed as a consequenc of the progressive withdrawal of Subsurface Magma), including the presence of many Hollows (a Surface Feature that, as we know now, is extremely common and that can be found all over the Surface of Mercury and which do not seem to be only related, in our opinion, as IPF, to the verification of Impact Events).
Date acquired: October, 11th, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 258458455
Image ID: 2745982
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 27,15° North
Center Longitude: 330,4° East
Resolution: 28 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 74,1° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 15,9° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 33,2°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 107,3°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft b/w frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16302) 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-Ives_Crater-PIA14360-PCF-LXTT.jpgIves Crater (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)128 visiteCaption NASA:"In this image, one is immediately drawn to the Rayed Crater in the upper right. Ives Crater, named in 1979 after American composer Charles Edward Ives, is smaller than many Unnamed Craters visible in this image, but it is younger and therefore brighter than its surrounding Terrain".
Date acquired: May, 20th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 214374721
Image ID: 276065
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 29,74° South
Center Longitude: 245,4° East
Resolution: 933 meters/pixel
Scale: the width of this image is approx. 677 Km
Incidence Angle: 49,0°
Emission Angle: 1,7°
Sun-Target-Spacecraft (such as "Phase") Angle: 50,7°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Kertesz_Crater-PIA16770-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgLow Sun over Kertész Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)80 visiteThis spectacular NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft's image is a mosaic of 3 (three) separate Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) frames. It gives us a close-up look at the enigmatic Kertesz Crater (whose diameter is approx. 31 Km - such as about 19,2 miles) and its very extensive System of Hollows.
Date acquired: Jaunuary, 11th, 2013
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET) since January 8, 2013: 187422, 187426, 187430
Images ID: 3307043, 3307044, 3307045
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 27,38° North
Center Longitude: 146,3° East
Resolution: 30 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 80,5° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the pictures were taken, was about 9,5° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 16,2°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 64,3°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft b/w image mosaic published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16770) 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-Kertész_Crater-PIA10933.jpgKertész Crater (Saturated Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)53 visiteLocated in the Western Edge of Mercury's giant Caloris Basin, Kertész Crater (recently named for André Kertész, a Hungarian-born American photographer) has some unusual, bright material located on its floor. Sander crater, located in the North-Western Edge of Caloris Basin, also shows bright material on its floor.
The MESSENGER Science Team is investigating the nature and composition of these bright materials and making comparisons between these two craters both located at the edges of Caloris Basin.
Just North-East of Kertész, a small crater has very bright rays and ejecta in this image, indicating that the crater is young.
Date Acquired: January 14, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 108826812
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 260 meters/pixel (0,16 miles/pixel
Scale: Kertész Crater is about 34 Km (approx. 21 miles) in diameter
Spacecraft Altitude: about 10.200 Km (approx. 6.340 miles)MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Kertész_Crater-PIA16624-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgKertész Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)67 visiteThe bright and white-colored Material so clearly visible all over the Floor of Kertész Crater (whose diameter is approx. 31 Km - such as a little more than 19 miles) is not - despite its color and physical appearence - the Water Ice that has been recently confirmed to be present deep inside many Impact Craters located near Mercury's Poles, but it might well be behaving as Ice would on another Planet.
As a matter of fact, Mercury's Daytime Temperatures are so hot at most Latitudes that several kinds of Rocks (---> Minerals) which would be quite stable at other places in the Solar System, may essentially evaporate on Mercury. That is just one (a new one, we believe) theory that could explain the formation of these bright, irregular Features known as "Hollows" and seen here and, as you should already know very well, in many other places on the Planet Mercury (however, these fascinating Surface Features must, somehow - and in our humble opinion, as IPF -, be related to Impact Mechanics since they can mostly - if not exclusively - be found either inside, or on the Rims and/or, often, in close proximities with Impact Craters).
Date acquired: November, 17th, 2012
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 261598284
Image ID: 2969138
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 27,38° North
Center Longitude: 145,5° East
Resolution: 46 meters/pixel
Solar Incidence Angle: 42,6° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the pictures were taken, was about 47,4° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 59,7°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 91,4°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft b/w frame published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 16624) 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-Lermontov_Crater-PIA12116.jpgLermontov Crater (possible Natural Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)54 visiteLermontov Crater was first observed by Mariner 10 and seen more recently by MESSENGER during its second flyby of Mercury. The Crater fFloor is somewhat brighter than the exterior surface and is smooth with several irregularly shaped depressions.
Such features, similar to those found on the floor of Praxiteles Crater (see PIA12040), may be evidence of past explosive volcanic activity on the Crater Floor. Lermontov appears reddish in enhanced-color views (see PIA11411), suggesting that it has a different composition from the surrounding surface.
Lermontov is named for Mikhail Yurevich Lermontov, a nineteenth-century Russian poet and painter who died from a gunshot suffered in a duel.
Date Acquired: October 6, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 131771953
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 250 meters/pixel (0,16 miles/pixel)
Scale: Lermontov’s diameter is about 152 Km (approx. 94 miles)
Spacecraft Altitude: about 10.000 Km (approx. 6200 miles)
Nota Lunexit: curiosamente, dopo il nostro Color Processing, non è Lermontov ad apparire "rossiccio", a fronte di terreni circostanti grigiastri, bensì l'esatto contrario! Curioso...MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Machaut_Crater-CN0131770808M_web.pngMachaut Crater (natural colors; credits: Lunexit)53 visiteDate Acquired: October 6, 2008
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 131770808
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 100 meters/pixel (0,06 miles/pixel)
Scale: This image is about 100 Km across (approx. 60 miles)
Spacecraft Altitude: about 3900 Km (approx. 2400 miles)
Of Interest: Machaut is the name of a crater, approx. 106 Km (about 66 miles) in diameter, first seen under high-Sun conditions by Mariner 10 in the 1970s. The crater is named for the medieval French composer and poet Guillaume de Machaut.
This NAC image shows an amazing new view of Machaut taken during MESSENGER’s second flyby of Mercury. The slanting rays of the Sun cast shadows that reveal numerous small craters and intricate features.
The largest crater within Machaut appears to have been inundated by lava flows similar to those that have filled most of the floor of the larger feature. The adjacent, slightly smaller crater was formed at a later time and excavated material below the lava-formed surface.
MESSENGER science team members will also be studying the shallow ridges that crisscross Machaut’s floor.MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Matisse_Crater-209136.jpgMatisse Crater (HR)53 visiteAs NASA’s MESSENGER approached Mercury on January 14, 2008, the Spacecraft took this image of the Crater Matisse. Named for the French artist Henri Matisse, Matisse crater was imaged during the Mariner 10 Mission and is about 130 miles in diameter. Matisse crater is in the Southern Hemisphere and can be seen near the Terminator of the Planet (the line between the sunlit, day side and the dark, night side).
On Mercury, craters are named for people, now deceased, who have made contributions to the Humanities, such as Artists, Musicians, Painters and Authors. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) oversees the official process of naming new craters and other new features discovered on bodies throughout the Solar System. Scientists studying and mapping unnamed features can suggest names for consideration by the IAU. The 1213 images taken by MESSENGER during its first flyby encounter with Mercury cover a large region of Mercury's surface previously unseen by spacecraft, revealing many new craters and other features that will need to be named.
MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Mena_Crater-PIA15202-PCF-LXTT-IPF-00.jpgMena Crater, in context (Possible Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)55 visiteThe (relatively) young Rays of Mena Crater (approx. 15 Km - such as about 9,315 miles - in diameter) contrast brightly against the surrounding Mercurian Surface, though these beautiful and colorful Rays will gradually fade, and disappear, with time (Eons, in fact).
Furthermore, the asymmetric pattern of the Rays themselves, with an obvious gap in their South-Western direction, may be due to the angle at which the Impact that formed the Crater occurred or, maybe, it can also be due to the circumstance that Mena Crater formed on a very uneven Surface, such as just right on top of the Outer Rim of a larger, pre-existing, Impact Crater, as it can well be seen in this contextual image-mosaic. We, as IPF, believe that the second scenario which was mentioned herebefore is quite more plausible than the first one (even though a combination of the two scenarios/factors cannot be excluded).
Date acquired: November, 12th, 2011
Images Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 229581348, 229581352, 229581356
Images ID: 1003074, 1003075, 1003076
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 0,97° South
Center Longitude: 234,00° East
Solar Incidence Angle: 29,7° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 60,3° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 16,3°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 46,0°
This frame (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft's false colors and Map-Projected image-mosaic published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 15202) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, Gamma corrected 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 Western Edge of the Mercurian Impact Crater "Mena"), 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-Mena_Crater-PIA17786-PCF-LXTT-IPF-01.jpgMena Crater, in detail (Possible Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)63 visiteIn this simple, and yet very interesting picture, taken by the NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft on November, 13, 2013, we can get a relatively close look at the fresh, Bright-Rayed Impact Crater known as Mena (note: due to the distance between the Spacecraft and the Mercurian Surface, the Bright Rays of Mena Crater can just be barely seen in this image).
As you may want to notice, solidified Impact Melt formed some kind of a "Heart-shaped" and smooth Pond that is mostly concentrated on the South/Western Side of the Crater Floor; the quite obvious (---> very clear, easy to see) asymmetry existing between the aforementioned South/Western Side of the Floor and some (actually, a large) portion of its North/Eastern one, is due to the fact that Mena Crater did not form on a Flat Surface, but on the Sloping Rim of a much older Impact Crater (as it will be better seen tomorrow's contextual APOD).
Date acquired: November, 13th, 2013
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 26657614
Image ID: 5189176
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 0,24° South
Center Longitude: 235,30° East
Solar Incidence Angle: 54,7° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 35,3° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 23,4°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 71,0°
This frame (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft's b/w and NON Map-Projected image published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 17786) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, magnified to aid the visibility of the details, Gamma corrected 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 Western Edge of the Mercurian Impact Crater "Mena"), 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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