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Welcome to Albedo Mapping!
A new imaging campaign during MESSENGER's extended mission is acquisition of a global albedo map of Mercury's surface. "Albedo" is a term used to describe the fraction of light incident on a surface that is scattered back and can be measured by an observer (such as MDIS). In other words, the albedo is the inherent reflectance of a material.
Date acquired: March 29, 2012
Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington