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The recent photo of Mercury highlights an area around the south pole of Mercury. This region has never been sighted in space probes before. On the upper right side of the image, the Debussy crater is clearly visible. The crater is 85 kilometers wide, and it radiates bright rays from its center. On the west of Debussy crater, a smaller crater named Matabei can be seen in the photo. The Matabei crater is 24 kilometers wide, and it is famous for its unusual dark rays. "This image is the first ever obtained from a spacecraft in orbit about the solar system's innermost planet," said NASA. NASA’s $446 million Messenger spacecraft got its name from an acronym of Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Gwochemistry and Ranging. The probe is expected to last for at least one Earth year, monitoring Mercury from orbit. Other images will be released soon During the first six hours of observation, Messenger took 363 photos of Mercury. The first image showed the rocky landscape of Mercury and the two craters. Rest of the images will be published very soon, and they are expected to cover previously unseen areas of Mercury. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is supervising the Messenger flight for NASA. They have uploaded the first image on their ‘Messenger mission’ website. The mission ahead Principal investigator, Sean Solomon of the Carnegie Institution in Washington said, “The first images from orbit and the first measurements from Messenger's other payload instruments are only the opening trickle of the flood of new information that we can expect over the coming year. The orbital exploration of the solar system's innermost planet has begun.” Messenger will start mapping the entire landscape of Mercury on April 4. It’s the primary phase of the mission, and it is anticipated that the process may require approximately 75,000 images. The team of scientists is hoping that Messenger will solve many mysteries of Mercury, and will clarify our understanding of the planet’s geology, formation and history. For more information check out ultra-portable power pack
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