Mercury's Caloris Basin
Explanation:
Mercury, the closest planet to the
Sun, has a surface with so many craters
it resembles the
Earth's
Moon. The largest surface feature on
Mercury is the Caloris Basin, which resulted from a collision with an
asteroid.
The basin, which is more that 1000 kilometers across, is visible
as the large circular feature at the bottom of the above photograph.
Similar features, such as the
Mare Orientale,
are seen on the Moon.
The Caloris Basin gets very hot because it is near the "sub-solar point" - the
point on
Mercury's surface
that is directly under the
Sun when
Mercury
is closest to the
Sun.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
