NASA Shares Stunning Image Of Mercury Impact Crater That's Bigger Than Texas

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NASA has brought back some of its "greatest hits," including a stunning image of Mercury's Caloris Basin.

On Twitter, NASA shared a color-enhanced image of the crater-riddled surface of Mercury that was taken by the space agency's Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission back in November 2014. The photo shows the planet's Caloris Basin, which according to NASA's website, is the most "spectacular" of the many craters created by space debris continuously hitting Mercury, which does not have a thick atmosphere like Earth to protect it.

While the Caloris is called a basin by astronomers, this might be a bit misleading as the term is usually applied to craters that are over 186 miles (300 kilometers) wide. However, Mercury's Caloris, which is surrounded by mile-high mountains, is bigger than the state of Texas at about 950 miles (1,525 kilometers) in diameter. To compare, Texas is 773 miles (1,244 kilometers) wide if one travels from east to west.

According to the original caption of the image, lava, which appears orange in the photo, had flooded the Mercury basin. During the Messenger's orbit of Mercury, the spacecraft found that the planet hosts volcanic vents that reach up to 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) in diameter. Scientists believe that they once spewed large volumes of very hot lava that later created valleys and teardrop-shaped ridges in the underlying terrain.

Read more: https://www.ibtimes.com/nasa-shares-stunning-image-mercury-impact-crater-thats-bigger-texas-photo-2762965