Mercury: Digital Elevation Model

NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/DLR/Smithsonian Institution
November 16, 2016
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Computer-generated illustration of elevation
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/DLR/Smithsonian Institution

A high-resolution digital elevation model derived from stereo images obtained by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft has revealed Mercury’s great valley shown here in this 3D perspective view. Below the perspective view is a high-incidence angle image mosaic of the region. Mercury’s great valley is over 1,000 km long, extends into the Rembrandt basin, and is bound on one side by Enterprise Rupes, the largest fault scarp on Mercury. The vertical exaggeration, the difference between the vertical and horizontal scale, is 20×. 


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