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| Piú viste - Mercury |
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)151 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-Rupes-PIA15219-PCF-LXTT.jpgCliffs on the Rim of Eminescu Crater (Enhanced and Sharpened Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)150 visiteThis oblique view shows a portion of the Rim of the crater Eminescu. The angle of this image provides a great perspective for viewing the spectacular Cliffs that formed as material slumped from the Crater Rim into the Crater Interior, as well as small ponds of impact melt perched on the Rim.
This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's Surface at resolutions much higher than the 250-meter/pixel (820 feet/pixel) morphology base map or the 1-Km/pixel (0,6 miles/pixel) color base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's Surface at this high resolution during MESSENGER's one-year mission, but several areas of high scientific interest are generally imaged in this mode each week.
Date acquired: December, 05th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 231611014
Image ID: 1099316
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 9,8° North
Center Longitude: 115,5° East
Resolution: 34 meters/pixel
Scale: the scene is approximately 35 km (about 22 miles)
Solar Incidence Angle: 65,1° (meaning that the Sun was about 24,9° above the Local Horizon when the picture was taken)
Emission Angle: 60,1°
Sun-Mercury-MESSENGER (or "Phase") Angle: 125,3°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)147 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-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)147 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-Debussy_Crater-PIA14080-PCF-LXTT.jpgRays from Debussy Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)143 visiteBright Rays, consisting of Impact Ejecta and Secondary Craters, spread across this NAC image and radiate from Debussy Crater, located at the top. The image, acquired during the first orbit for which MDIS was imaging, shows just a small portion of Debussy's large System of Rays in greater detail than ever previously seen. Images acquired during MESSENGER's second Mercury Fly-By showed that Debussy's Rays extend for hundreds of Km across Mercury's Surface. Debussy Crater was named in March 2010, in honor of the French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918).
Date Acquired:March 29, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET):209885555
Image ID:65082
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 36,4° South
Center Longitude: 16,1° East
Resolution: approx. 300 mt/pixel (0,19 miles/pixel)
Scale: Debussy Crater has a diameter of about 80 KmMareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Unnamed_Craters-PIA14362-PCF-LXTT.jpgAlbedo Differences (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)142 visiteCaption NASA:"This image depicts a stark contrast between Albedo differences on Mercury. The Crater Kalidasa, located in the upper left of the image, contains a smaller but exceptionally bright Crater on its Floor. Nearby to the South/West, Low Reflectance Material (LRM) is found on Kalidasa's Floor. LRM is also visible at the upper left corner of the image. The law of superposition tells us that Kalidasa must have formed before the small bright Crater".
Date acquired: June, 07th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 215940577
Image ID: 349800
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 17,25° South
Center Longitude: 182,2° East
Resolution: 141 meters/pixel
Scale: Kālidāsa Crater is approximately 100 Km in diameter.
Incidence Angle: 17,4°
Emission Angle: 65,8°
Sun-Target-Spacecraft (such as "Phase") Angle: 78,3°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Rembrandt_Crater-PIA14497-PCF-LXTT.jpgRembrandt Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)142 visiteDate acquired: July, 11th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 218833662, 218833682, 218833666
Image ID: 489008 , 489013, 489009
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: 34,67° South
Center Longitude: 100,4° East
Resolution: 1853 meters/pixel
Scale: Rembrandt Basin has a diameter of about 716 Km (approx. 445 miles)
Solar Incidence Angle: 50,5°
Emission Angle: 0,4°
Phase Angle: 50,5°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Unnamed_Impact_Crater_with_Pond-PIA18371-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgImpact's Melt "Pond" (CTX Frame - Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)142 visiteThis High-Resolution Contextual (CTX) Image, taken by NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft on the date of March, 10, 2014, shows us a few Ponds (---> small Lake-like Features) made of Impact Melt (remember that this kind of Surface Features appear to us way smoother than the Terrain which surrounds them).
In particular, these Melt Ponds (where the bigger one looks like some sort of a Flat Ellipse, with its Major Axis measuring approx. 1 Km - and visible at about 10 o' clock of the frame) were deposited (probably) as Fluid Ejecta (---> such as Ejecta made of liquid or semi-liquid Rock) coming from an Unnamed Impact Crater located to the North (top) of the picture, but not visible here.
Date acquired: March, 10th, 2014
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 36770132
Image ID: 5908036
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 63,77° North
Center Longitude: 254,70° East
Solar Incidence Angle: 72,5° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 17,5° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 6,3°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 78,9°
This picture (which is an Original NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft's b/w and Map-Projected image published on the NASA - Planetary Photojournal with the ID n. PIA 18371) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, Gamma corrected, magnified to aid the visibility of the details 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 outside, 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-Hill-PIA18248-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgMercurian Hill (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)141 visiteThis Vertical Relief (a very small Hill perhaps?), photographed by the NASA - MESSENGER Spacecraft on March, 25, 2014, lies towards the Edge of Mercury's expansive Northern Plains. The Sun, at the time when the picture was taken, was already very low on the Local Mercurian Horizon (---> only 6°), and this circumstance caused the creation of a long Shadow, approximately 3,3 Km (such as about 2,04 miles) long.
Using a simple formula (actually, it is a Trigonometric relationship) - and knowing, in addition to the length of the Shadow, the Local Solar Incidence Angle - it was easy to calculate the height of the Hill, which is approx.(~) 340 meters (such as about (~) 0,2111 miles).
This Vertical Relief, according to NASA Planetary Scientists, could be (even thougb we, as IPF, stronglt disagree with such an hypothesis) a partial remnant of the Rim of an old Impact Crater that, some time in a very remote past of Mercury, was flooded (---> invaded and then almost completely covered) by fluid Lava. North is to the right of this image.
Date acquired: March, 25th, 2014
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 38066727
Image ID: 6000245
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 83,92° North
Center Longitude: 242,30° East
Solar Incidence Angle: 84,0° (meaning that the Sun, at the time that the picture was taken, was about 6,0° above the imaged Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 1,9°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 82,0°
This picture (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 18248) has been additionally processed, contrast enhanced, Gamma corrected, magnified to aid the visibility of the details 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 outside, 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-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)140 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Craters-Unnamed_Crater_with_bright_Rays-PIA15204-PCF-LXTT.jpgBright Rayed Crater (Enhanced Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer Italia)140 visiteThe Ejecta of this (relatively, of course) "fresh" approx. 20-Km Impact Crater swept the Surface, leaving beautiful bright Rays. Crater Rays fade with time as smaller impacts mix them into the surrounding Soil while Particles from the Solar Wind change the Surface's Chemistry. Given a little time (perhaps a million years or so), this Unnamed Crater will look like the other similar-sized Craters in the frame.
Date acquired: November, 17th, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 230018573
Image ID: 1023529
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: 51,0° South
Center Longitude: 175,1° East
Resolution: 221 meters/pixel
Scale: the Rayed Crater is approximately 20 Km (about 12 miles) in diameter
Solar Incidence Angle: 53,1° (meaning that the Sun is about 36,9° above the Local Horizon)
Emission Angle: 37,8°
Sun-Mercury-MESSENGER (or "Phase") Angle: 78,6°MareKromium
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ZZ-Mercury-Unusual_Surface_Feature-PIA14465-PCF-LXTT.jpgAngular "Albedo Arc" (Enhanced Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer Italia)135 visiteCaption NASA:"A distinct Albedo difference is visible in this image, separating lighter, smoother ground in the North from darker, older Terrain in the South. This contrast is likely indicative of a compositional difference between the two Terrains. Although at first glance this feature seems angular, the Albedo change most likely marks the edge of an extremely degraded Impact Basin (---> Crater)".
Date acquired: June, 21st, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 217183900
Image ID: 409241
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 30,53° North
Center Longitude: 226,2° East
Resolution: 343 meters/pixel
Scale: the diagonal length of this image is about 500 km (310 mi) across
Solar Incidence Angle: 54,3° (meaning that the Sun is about 35,7° above the Local Mercurian Horizon)
Emission Angle: 0,3°
Sun-Mercury-Messenger (or "Phase") Angle: 54,1°MareKromium
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