NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

From Beyond

Because of the small axial tilt of Mercury's pole of rotation, several of the craters in this south polar image are shrouded in permanent shadow. Earth-based radar observations have found that these craters also host radar-bright material that is likely water ice. In the furthest southern portion of this image, the rim of the large crater Chao Meng-Fu rises from the darkness.

Date acquired: September 07, 2011

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