English: Date acquired: December 05, 2011

Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 231567383
Image ID: 1097256
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 67.16°
Center Longitude: 99.57° E
Resolution: 95 meters/pixel
Scale: The scene is about 124 km (77 mi.) across.
Incidence Angle: 86.3°
Emission Angle: 37.5°
Phase Angle: 123.9°

Of Interest: This image shows a southern portion of the Mendelssohn impact basin. The smooth plains in the top (north) half of the image contrast sharply with the rugged, heavily cratered geological unit that forms the basin rim. The smooth plains were formed by eruption of highly fluid lavas that covered the basin floor. The Sun was low on the horizon when the image was captured, and the resulting shadows reveal the presence of ridges in the plains that mark the rims of impact craters buried by the lavas.

This image was acquired as part of MDIS's high-resolution surface morphology base map. The surface morphology base map covers more than 99% of Mercury's surface with an average resolution of 200 meters/pixel. Images acquired for the surface morphology base map typically are obtained at off-vertical Sun angles (i.e., high incidence angles) and have visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features.