This is a mosaic of Mercury.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA.
Surface Features of Mercury
The surface of Mercury has numerous interesting features, including a
variety of craters, ridges, and terrains ranging from heavily cratered
to nearly crater free. These features, and their location
across the known planet surface, helps us to understand the
evolution of
the planet.
Craters on Mercury are named mainly
after artists, while plains have generally been named after
mythological and religious figures. Several features are named
after famous astonomers and observatories. Several different types
of craters can be seen, including young craters in otherwise
smooth terrain, new craters on top of old craters,
craters with peaks in the center, and craters with lines or "rays" of
bright material pointing out from the central crater. Craters
ranging in sizes from 100 meters to 1300 km across can be seen in the
Mariner 10 images. Although volcanoes have not been identified, the
smooth
plains on Mercury indicate that molten material at various times in
the past filled in low lying areas. The
wrinkle ridges that are scattered
across the planet suggest that the planet cooled down and shrunk
in the past, causing squeezing and lifting of the surface. The
Caloris basin is the largest single
feature on the planet, probably caused by the impact of a large
meteorite. It's interesting to note that one side of the planet
seems to be more heavily cratered than the other side, where
relatively smooth plains (near the Caloris Basin) are more
common.
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