The MESSENGER orbits Mercury, using radio science investigation and seven instruments to attain more knowledge about the evolution and history of the planet. The picture is from image data collected from this spacecraft with a wide angle camera, and the colors would not normally be seen but they reveal the richly complex regions of Mercury. Apart from chemical and mineralogical areas that cause the variety of appearances there are many physical features such as the Caloris basin, seen in the upper right of this angle of the planet. It was created by an ancient comet or asteroid, then the area was flooded with lava. The light blue areas were also created by impacts, although ones that occurred more recently. The beautiful blue areas are low reflectance terrains.
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