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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Mercury Flyby Reveals Bright Craters, Long Rays


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A wide-angle view of Mercury taken on October 6, 2008, shows parts of the surface never seen before, including bright craters and a pattern of rays that extend across half the planet.

The image is among thousands sent back to Earth from the MESSENGER spacecraft during its second Mercury flyby.

Photograph courtesy NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington