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Mercury Gallery

Catalog of images, videos, and animations of Mercury.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the Sun's rotation bringing a new active region into view, revealing the dynamic arches and twisting streams of its magnetic field (Oct. 10-11, 2018).

Latest Mercury Content

Stay up-to-date with the latest content about Mercury from Photojournal

Perseverance Views a Transit of Mercury

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture Mercury – seen as a tiny speck – passing in…

Mar 5, 2024
Best Determination of MESSENGER’s Impact Location

Description The day before the MESSENGER spacecraft impacted the surface of Mercury, the best prediction for the location and time…

Jun 3, 2015
In Tribute

In this perspective view, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft looked northwest over the Caloris Basin, a depression about 1500 km in diameter…

May 1, 2015
From the First to the Last

On March 18, 2011, NASA's MESSENGER made history by becoming the first spacecraft ever to orbit Mercury. Eleven days later,…

Apr 30, 2015
MESSENGER’s Final Image

This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is the last one acquired and transmitted back to Earth by the mission. The…

Apr 30, 2015
One of the Last

This image, acquired yesterday, is one of NASA's MESSENGER's last. Today, April 30, 2015, the spacecraft will complete its highly…

Apr 30, 2015
Overview of the Impact Region

The large, 400-kilometer-diameter (250-mile-diameter), impact basin Shakespeare occupies the bottom left quarter of this image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft.

Apr 29, 2015
Details of MESSENGER’s Impact Location

These graphics show the current best prediction of the location and time of NASA's MESSENGER's impact on Mercury's surface. These…

Apr 29, 2015
Tomorrow

This image from MESSENGER spacecraft covers a small area located about 115 km south of the center of Mansart crater.

Apr 29, 2015
Five New Crater Names for Mercury

Five previously unnamed craters on Mercury now have names. Shown here are Carolan, Enheduanna, Karsh, Kulthum, and Rivera as seen…

Apr 29, 2015
The Final Days

Though NASA's MESSENGER's days are numbered, the spacecraft will continue to acquire new data sets and transmit them back to…

Apr 28, 2015
The Days Dwindle Down to a Precious Few

This image is located just inside the southern rim of Chong Chol crater and was obtained on April 25, 2015,…

Apr 27, 2015
Delaying the Inevitable

At approximately 1.1 meters/pixel, this image is among the highest-resolution views MESSENGER has ever taken of the surface of Mercury.

Apr 24, 2015
If It Ain’t Baroque, Don’t Fix It

This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows a small portion of the interior of Scarlatti basin. The image is located…

Apr 22, 2015
Scrutinizing Secondaries

The surface in this scene captured by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has been pummeled by secondary craters, possibly from the impact…

Apr 22, 2015
Goodbye, Hollows

As NASA's MESSENGER enters its final days, we are getting our last looks at some of our favorite features. Hollows,…

Apr 21, 2015
The End Is Near

NASA's MESSENGER is again sending images back to Earth after the spacecraft emerged from superior solar conjunction, when communication is…

Apr 20, 2015
Awesome Abedin

This mosaic of oblique images from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft highlights the spectacular interior of Abedin crater. The crater floor is…

Apr 16, 2015
A Striking Perspective

This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft provides a perspective view of the center portion of Carnegie Rupes, a large tectonic…

Apr 16, 2015
Orange Is the New Blue

Measurements from NASA's MESSENGER's MLA instrument during the spacecraft's greater than four-year orbital mission have mapped the topography of Mercury's…

Apr 16, 2015
The Ups and Downs of Mercury’s Topography

Measurements from NASA's MESSENGER's MLA instrument during the spacecraft's greater than four-year orbital mission have mapped the topography of Mercury's…

Apr 16, 2015
Unmasking the Secrets of Mercury

The MASCS instrument onboard NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft was designed to study both the exosphere and surface of Mercury in order…

Apr 16, 2015
Mercury’s Sodium Tail

This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is stitched together from thousands of observations made over the past 4 years by…

Apr 16, 2015
Showing Some Chemistry

During NASA's MESSENGER's four-year orbital mission, the spacecraft's X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS) instrument mapped out the chemical composition of Mercury and…

Apr 16, 2015
Shadows in the South

This view from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is an orthographic projection of Mercury's south polar region, colored by an illumination map;…

Apr 16, 2015
Expansive Northern Volcanic Plains

Mercury's northern region is dominated by expansive smooth plains, created by huge amounts of volcanic material flooding across Mercury's surface…

Apr 16, 2015
Mapping Potassium

During the first year of NASA's MESSENGER's orbital mission, the spacecraft's GRS instrument measured the elemental composition of Mercury's surface…

Apr 16, 2015
Wrinkles on Mercury

This image mosaic from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows an unnamed ridge in the northern volcanic plains of Mercury. Wrinkle ridges…

Apr 16, 2015
Dramatic Darks of Derain

In this enhanced color view from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft of the peak-ring basin Derain, the different colors accentuate the different…

Apr 16, 2015
Water Ice on Mercury

This orthographic projection view from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft provides a look at Mercury's north polar region. The yellow regions in…

Apr 16, 2015
The Architect and His Temple

One of the most captivating views acquired during NASA's MESSENGER's first Mercury flyby was of the crater Apollodorus surrounded by…

Apr 16, 2015
A Detailed Look at Raditladi Basin

This mosaic from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft provides a detailed view of the features and structures associated with the peak-ring basin…

Apr 16, 2015
Hokusai Spectacular!

Hokusai crater's rays extend across much of the planet, but its interior is spectacular in its own right. This series…

Apr 15, 2015
Gravity Anomalies

Description Analysis of radio tracking data have enabled maps of the gravity field of Mercury to be derived. In this…

Apr 15, 2015
Mercury’s Calcium Exosphere

Description The graphic shown here is more than just an artistic representation of Mercury’s calcium exosphere – it is the…

Apr 14, 2015
Regard Rustaveli

This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows the large Rustaveli basin on the right portion of the view. Named in…

Apr 14, 2015
Hyper Vent-ilating

This series of oblique images captured by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft highlight the wall and exterior of the beautiful volcanic vent…

Apr 13, 2015
Carnegie Cuts a Crater

Carnegie Rupes makes a dramatic sight in this large image mosaic taken by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. The giant lobate scarp…

Apr 10, 2015
Pits and Scarps

Lessing crater can be seen in the lower left of this image captured by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. Instead of the…

Apr 8, 2015
Disappearing Act

Description This small ghost crater lies in Mercury’s northern volcanic plains. At some point after its formation, lava completely filled…

Apr 6, 2015
These are the voyages…

This is one of the earliest images of Mercury returned by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. It was taken in January 2008.

Apr 3, 2015
A Field of Hollows

Mercury's hollows are among its most distinctive and unusual surface features. In this stunning view from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, we…

Apr 1, 2015
Crumpled Crater

NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows that Mercury's surface is scarred by abundant tectonic deformation, the vast majority of which is due…

Mar 30, 2015
Anatomy of a Fresh Crater

Description Another look at the fresh impact crater seen here is revealed in this image. This time the image is…

Mar 27, 2015
Inside and Up Close

Description The inside of this young, rayed impact crater is seen at a resolution of just over five meters per…

Mar 25, 2015
Small and Young

Small graben, narrow linear troughs, have been found associated with small scarps (bottom left, white arrows) on Mercury and the…

Mar 20, 2015
A Shot in the Dark

This image, acquired at 24 m/pixel by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, is the highest resolution that has been obtained for any…

Mar 18, 2015
Flute Music

This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows the wall of a volcanic vent located between the Rachmaninoff basin and Copland…

Mar 16, 2015
Hot and Cold

This view captured by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows Mercury's north polar region, colored by the maximum biannual surface temperature, which…

Mar 16, 2015
The Young Ones

This high-resolution view from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows hollows on the southwestern peak ring of the Scarlatti basin. The hollows…

Mar 16, 2015
Small Scarp Close-up

Images obtained from NASA's MESSENGER have revealed a population of small fault scarps (white arrows) that can be more than…

Mar 16, 2015
Fuller Revealed

NASA's MESSENGER's low-altitude campaign has enabled imaging of Fuller crater (named after American architect Buckminster Fuller) in greater detail than…

Mar 16, 2015
Enterprise Rupes

Description Enterprise Rupes, (indicated here with white arrows) about 1000 km long and with over 3 km of relief, is…

Mar 16, 2015
Surface Chemistry Maps

Maps of magnesium/silicon (left) and thermal neutron absorption (right) across Mercury's surface (red indicates high values, blue low) are shown…

Mar 13, 2015
Wherefore Stopp’st Thou Me?

The large degraded impact crater near the center is Coleridge. It has been pummeled by later impacts, as seen by…

Mar 11, 2015
Riddle Me This

This view captured by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows two craters in an area of smooth plains.

Mar 9, 2015
Melting Point

NASA's MESSENGER reveals that Impact crater floors are commonly flat and relatively smooth, the result of the cooling and solidification…

Mar 6, 2015
Volcanic Snow

Portions of this volcanic vent complex to the northeast of Rachmaninoff basin are blanketed in a layer of very fine-grained…

Mar 4, 2015
Crossed Craters

Description Mercury’s surface is riven by large tectonic structures that formed when the planet’s interior cooled and contracted. One of…

Mar 2, 2015
This Space for Vent

The volcanic vent northeast of Rachmaninoff basin is framed perfectly in this image captured by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft.

Feb 27, 2015
All About That Basin

This mosaic from NASA's MESSENGER of Caloris basin is an enhanced-color composite overlain on a monochrome mosaic. It is made…

Feb 25, 2015
The Mighty Caloris

This mosaic from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft of the mighty Caloris basin, Mercury's youngest large impact basin. Caloris has been filled…

Feb 23, 2015
Hollow? Is It Me You’re Looking For?

This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft features a color view of the peak-ringed crater Aksakov. The inner ring of Aksakov…

Feb 20, 2015
Punctuated Equilibrium

Description From a distance, this hummocky terrain a few hundred km south of the boundary of Mercury’s northern plains appears…

Feb 18, 2015
The Color Out of Space

This image captured by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft features a color view of the southern pole of Mercury. About midway down…

Feb 16, 2015
Smooth Slopes

The region with fewer impact craters in the bottom-right corner of this image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is a small…

Feb 13, 2015
Big Boulders

On Mercury, craters larger than approximately 10-12 km display a complex morphology, with slump terraces and central peaks, as compared…

Feb 11, 2015
Sunlit Terraces

The exterior of this unnamed crater on Mercury is in shadow, while the inner wall and terraces bask in the…

Feb 9, 2015
Young Terraces

Description MESSENGER captured this image as the spacecraft sped roughly 720 km above the surface. The wall of a 45-km-diameter…

Feb 6, 2015
On the Edge

In this image from NASA's MESSENGER, Mercury's horizon cuts a striking edge against the stark blackness of space. On the…

Feb 4, 2015
Peaks and Hollows

Mercury's surface shown here by NASA's MESSENGER is located within a 73-km-diameter crater; the mounds are part of a larger…

Feb 2, 2015
A Whale of a Crater

Description The center of this image is dominated by Melville crater, named for American writer Herman Melville (1819-1891). Melville (about…

Jan 28, 2015
The Rolling Hills of Mercury

This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft shows the fine texture on the inner wall of an unnamed impact basin 100…

Jan 23, 2015
Pourquoi Pas?

The cliff-like feature crossing this image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft from top to bottom is one of Mercury's famed lobate…

Jan 21, 2015
The Horses of Han Kan

Situated high in Mercury's southern hemisphere, NASA's MESSENGER sees Han Kan, a 50-km-diameter impact crater with a well preserved central…

Jan 19, 2015
Hollow Dali

Description This crater is approximately 170 km southwest of the flooded Dali basin, along the rim of an old, mostly…

Jan 16, 2015
Alver is the Centerfold

Description Alver is a large, peak-ring basin in Mercury’s southern hemisphere. This mosaic, made up of three separate images, reveals…

Jan 14, 2015
The Sun Also Rises

Description Most of this 13.3-km-diameter (8.3-mi.-diameter) crater, located approximately 265 km (165 mi.) northwest of Angkor Vallis, is engulfed in…

Jan 12, 2015
Volcanism in Navoi

Description Navoi crater, located north of the large Caloris basin, shows signs of past volcanic activity. The orange tint in…

Jan 9, 2015
Inside Angkor Vallis

Description The striking topography inside of Angkor Vallis is believed to have formed by hot, quick-flowing lavas moving across Mercury’s…

Jan 7, 2015
A Change of Perspective

Description Sometimes, it’s really good to get a change in perspective. Today’s image provides that for Mercury’s north polar region.…

Jan 5, 2015
2014 in MESSENGER Images

Description At the end of each year, it has become a MESSENGER tradition to compile some of the featured images,…

Dec 29, 2014
He (or She) Who Shall Be Named

Description This image features another crater that you could name! The bright rays and crisp morphology of the crater walls…

Dec 24, 2014
Name This Crater!

Description This large crater near the center of the image is in need of a name, and you could name…

Dec 22, 2014
The Gazelle

Description The lower half of this image is dominated by a large, moderately fresh impact crater in Mercury’s southern hemisphere.…

Dec 19, 2014
Couperin le Grand

Description The largest impact crater in this color view is Couperin, roughly 85 km (53 mi.) in diameter. Couperin is…

Dec 17, 2014
Sinan Wave

Description Today’s image features a sinuous lobate scarp that snakes across the floor of Sinan crater. Sinan is an older,…

Dec 15, 2014
Off the Edge

Description This stunning limb view includes the northeastern portion of the Caloris basin in the foreground. Poe crater, a large,…

Dec 12, 2014
A Crackin’ Good Time

Description Welcome to Zeami crater! We’ve been here before, because Zeami has a plethora of interesting features – a portion…

Dec 10, 2014
Looking Out the Window

Description The MESSENGER spacecraft flies over the surface of Mercury at several kilometers per second. Have you ever wondered what…

Dec 8, 2014
Edge of Darkness

Description The rim and shadowed wall of a nondescript crater 25 km (approx. 16 mi.) in diameter, situated within the…

Dec 5, 2014
Between the Valleys of the Ancients

Description Today’s image features a massif southwest of Paestum Vallis and southeast of Timgad Vallis. Though it may look similar…

Dec 3, 2014
Simply Shadowed

Description Inside this simple crater, the sun never shines! The view shown here is a mosaic of two images, showing…

Dec 1, 2014
A Wrinkle in Time

Description Today’s image features a region of the northern volcanic plains just to the southeast of the crater Yoshikawa. A…

Nov 26, 2014
Balanchine’s Serenade

Description This 3D view, made up of two pairs of stereo images, shows Balanchine crater, which is located inside of…

Nov 24, 2014
Get Ready for an Adventure!

Description Take a look at Adventure Rupes in 3D! Adventure is a lobate scarp, formed when one block of crust…

Nov 21, 2014
Water Ice Data Exploration (WIDE) Tool

Description Want to learn more about the permanent darkness inside the crater from Monday’s Featured Image? Use the Water Ice…

Nov 19, 2014
Permanent Darkness

Description Located near Mercury’s north pole, inside this unnamed crater there are locations that are in permanent darkness. Mercury’s axial…

Nov 17, 2014
Van Eyck and the Formation

Description The low Sun elevation in this scene emphasizes the topography of Van Eyck crater. The rim of Van Eyck…

Nov 14, 2014
Despair and Tenderness

Description Hollows on Mercury are sometimes associated with pyroclastic deposits. This association is illustrated here, in this view of the…

Nov 12, 2014