Mercury's Core Dynamo Present Early in Planet's History (2 of 3) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Mercury's Core Dynamo Present Early in Planet's History (2 of 3)

Caption

In this perspective view, we look west across Suisei Planitia (blue colors), the site of some of the crustal magnetic signals. The plains are comprised of volcanic lava flows that erupted and solidified several billion ye ars ago, filling the low areas between the higher topography (red colors). The impact crater Kosho, 65 km in diameter, is seen in the center of the image (deep blue floor), and part of the crater Strindberg, 190 km in diameter, is seen in the lower left at the edge of the image. The background image is Mercury Dual Imaging System global mosaic, colored by surface elevation measured by the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), both draped over a digital elevation model derived from MLA data.

Credit

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

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