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The northern portion of the sunlit, crescent-shaped surface of Mercury is seen from the MESSENGER spacecraft as it approached the planet. The low Sun angle creates distinct shadows, enhancing the visibility of the roughness of the surface, which is especially prominent for material ejected from, and surrounding, the impact crater cut by the left edge of this image.

MESSENGER's View Over Mercury's Horizon

This image was taken on Oct. 6, 2008, about 54 minutes before NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft made its closest approach to Mercury during the mission’s second flyby. The image shows a view looking over Mercury’s horizon into the darkness of space.

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