Scale: The large crater near Mercury's south pole, Chao Meng-Fu, has a diameter of 180 km Map Information: This illumination map is shown in polar stereographic projection, extending northward to 73° S, and 0° longitude is at the top

Of Interest: Shown here is an illumination map of Mercury's south polar region. The map is colored on the basis of the percentage of time that a given area is sunlit; areas appearing black in the map are regions of permanent shadow. This map was created by using 89 wide-angle camera (WAC) images of Mercury's south polar region acquired by the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) over one complete Mercury solar day (176 Earth days). Radar-bright deposits, which may be water ice, collocate with regions of permanent shadow.