Laser altimeter observations from MESSENGER's first Mercury flyby.
A 3200-kilometers-long profile of Mercury by the Mercury Laser Altimeter on the MESSENGER spacecraft spans approximately 20% of the near-equatorial region of the planet. Topography along the profile is characterized by a 5.2-kilometer dynamic range and 930-meter root-mean-square roughness. At long wavelengths, topography slopes eastward by 0.02 degrees , implying a variation of equatorial shape that is at least partially compensated. Sampled craters on Mercury are shallower than their counterparts on the Moon, at least in part the result of Mercury's higher gravity. Crater floors vary in roughness and slope, implying complex modification over a range of length scales.
Zuber
Maria T
MT
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA. zuber@mit.edu
Smith
David E
DE
Solomon
Sean C
SC
Phillips
Roger J
RJ
Peale
Stanton J
SJ
Head
James W
JW
Hauck
Steven A
SA
McNutt
Ralph L
RL
Oberst
Jürgen
J
Neumann
Gregory A
GA
Lemoine
Frank G
FG
Sun
Xiaoli
X
Barnouin-Jha
Olivier
O
Harmon
John K
JK