Home | Site Map | What's New | Image Index | Copyright | Posters | ScienceViews | Science Fiction Timelines |

PHOTO INDEX OF
PRIMARY TARGETS
ASTEROIDS
COMETS
EARTH
JUPITER
KUIPER BELT
MARS
MERCURY
METEORITES
NEPTUNE
OORT CLOUD
PLUTO
SATURN
SOLAR SYSTEM
SPACE
SUN
URANUS
VENUS
ORDER PRINTS

OTHER PHOTO INDEXES
ALL TARGETS
PHOTO CATEGORIES

SCIENCEVIEWS
AMERICAN INDIAN
AMPHIBIANS
BIRDS
BUGS
FINE ART
FOSSILS
THE ISLANDS
HISTORICAL PHOTOS
MAMMALS
OTHER
PARKS
PLANTS
RELIGIOUS
REPTILES
SCIENCEVIEWS PRINTS

Seeking Information on Mercury's Mineralogy

Target Name:  Mercury
Spacecraft:  MESSENGER
Instrument:  MASCS
Produced by:  NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Copyright: NASA Copyright Free Policy
Cross Reference:  PIA10382
Date Released: 2008-01-30

Related Documents
Download Options

NameTypeWidth x HeightSize
PIA10382.jpgJPEG535 x 64043K
PIA10382.jpgJPEG1500 x 1793238K
PIA10382.jpgJPEG3000 x 3585625K
PIA10382.tifTIFF3000 x 35855M

The top plot shows the ground track of observations made by the Visible and Infrared Spectrograph (VIRS) component of the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS). The ground track is projected onto a MESSENGER image of the portion of the planet seen in high-resolution by MESSENGER for the first time.

The bottom plot shows the relative spectral reflectance as a function of wavelength at the two locations indicated on the previous graphic. The visible and infrared portions of the spectra are shown for the two nearby areas, one including ejected material from a bright, relatively young crater and the other from surrounding plains. The two spectra have been shifted vertically to match at 850 nm (in the near-infrared). Differences between the two spectra, most notable in the infrared, are indicative of differences in the mineral abundances in these two regions.

Copyright © 1995-2016 by Calvin J. Hamilton. All rights reserved.