MESSENGER Image of Mercury: Crater Enwonwu
Of Interest: The beautiful rayed crater at the left edge of the image is named for Benedict Enwonwu, a Nigerian sculptor and painter who lived from 1921-1994. Enwonwu crater is about 38 km in diameter. Its bright rays extend for hundreds of kilometers from the rim of the crater.
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 incidence angles) and visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features.
The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft’s seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System’s innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury? section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mission, MDIS is scheduled to acquire more than 75,000 images in support of MESSENGER’s science goals.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington. Larger image
Date acquired: June 07, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 215938633
Image ID: 349772
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: -8.78°
Center Longitude: 125.5° E
Resolution: 301 meters/pixel
Scale:The scene is about 320 km (198 mi.) across.
Incidence Angle: 54.6°
Emission Angle: 15.9°
Phase Angle: 38.7°
