On 12 October 2012, the MESSENGER spacecraft made this special observation of a small region on Mercury's surface, where two small craters on the edge of a larger crater resemble a pair of eyes.

MESSENGER is the first spacecraft to visit Mercury in 30 years and the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. During its mission, it mapped the entire planet, detected abundant water ice in the polar shadows and obtained valuable information about Mercury's geology and magnetic field.

MESSENGER spent more than four years in orbit around Mercury, taking around 300,000 photographs and transmitting a large amount of data with its scientific instruments. The mission ended on 30 April 2015.

Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's Moon and has a solid, cratered surface. Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system, moving through space at about 29 miles (47 kilometres) per second. Mercury also has the shortest year in our solar system, lasting only 88 days.

Image description:

A close-up of a barren, crater-strewn planetary surface. A large impact crater takes up most of the image, with two smaller-sized craters side by side in the upper centre of its rim, making it look like a face with two eyes.

 

Credit:

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