First Mercury Portal
Along with Earth and Mars, Mercury is another one of the rocky planets in our solar system. It has a solid surface that is covered with craters like our Moon.
Mercury is the least mapped planet of our solar system's inner planets. It is small, hot, and hostile to life - however, it is no less interesting than its neighbors! It wasn't until 2011 that NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft arrived at Mercury and began sending back data that would be turned into global elevation datasets, allowing highly detailed mapping and research of the planet’s surface.
MESSENGER was able to capture hyper-spectral photographs of the planet’s surface which allowed scientists to distinguish mineral types using false coloration. The purpose of this type of imagery is to gain insight into the composition of the planet’s substrate using a false-color pallet using variations in spectral reflectance.
Broad areas represented by dominant colors represent geologic blocks, or units. The color variation helps distinguish these units from the surrounding landscape, which may not be visually apparent from traditional photography, and yet are geologically distinct. Bluer areas represent mineral types with low albedo or reflexivity. The tan or yellow areas represent newer materials brought onto the surface through volcanism. And the lighter colored aquamarine or white streaks usually represent ejecta, materials spread by the impact of a meteor. This imagery has been included in the Mercury Portal as a semi-transparent layer that adds more details to the underlying topography.
Atop the topography is the named places on Mercury. The craters are named for artists, musicians, painters, and authors who have made outstanding or fundamental contributions to their field and have been recognized as art historically significant figures. For a complete list visit: https://planetarymapping.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/mercury1.pdf
The available data is of higher quality and covers more of the globe in its entirety. With this comprehensive topographic dataset, we’re proud to be launching this new portal.
Explore Mercury and other Portals here: www.redmapper.com/portals