NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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During its flyby of Mercury on Jan. 14, 2008, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft acquired high-resolution images of the planet's surface. This image shows a previously unseen crater with distinctive bright rays of ejected material extending outward from the crater's center. A chain of craters nearby is also visible. Studying impact craters provides insight into the history and composition of Mercury as well as dynamical processes that occurred throughout our solar system. This image is one of 99 taken by the spacecraft to enable the creation of a large, high-resolution mosaic of the northeast quarter of the region. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington