Planet Mercury: Apollodorus Crater

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.

This spectacular image contains the crater Apollodorus and some of the Pantheon Fossae structure, a complex system of extensional troughs located near the center of the Caloris basin. Although Apollodorus is located close to the center of Pantheon Fossae, the crater and trough system appear to be unrelated. North is down in this image.

Date acquired: July 28, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 220331898
Image ID: 560776
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filter: 7 (748 nanometers)
Center Latitude: 31.5°
Center Longitude: 165.0° E
Resolution: 115 meters/pixel
Scale: Apollodorus crater is approximately 42 km (26 mi.) in diameter.
Incidence Angle: 83.1°
Emission Angle: 38.3°
Phase Angle: 121.4

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington