Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 252265403, 252265399, 252265395
Image ID: 2305612, 2305611, 2305610
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
WAC filters: 9, 7, 6 (996, 748, 433 nanometers) in red, green, and blue
Center Latitude: 27.64°
Center Longitude: 57.58° E
Resolution: 149 meters/pixel
Scale: Rachmaninoff's inner ring is approximately 140 kilometers (87 miles) in diameter
Incidence Angle: 39.7°
Emission Angle: 19.2°
Phase Angle: 59.0°

Of Interest: Rachmaninoff is a spectacular double-ring basin on Mercury, and this color view is one of the highest resolution color image sets acquired of the basin's floor. Visible around the edges of the frame is a circle of mountains that make up Rachmaninoff's peak ring structure, which surrounds concentric troughs located on the on the basin floor. The color of the basin's floor inside the peak-ring differs from the darker material outside of it, as can also be seen in this previously posted color image.

This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted color observation. Targeted color observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions higher than the 1-kilometer/pixel 8-color base map. During MESSENGER's one-year primary mission, hundreds of targeted color observations were obtained. During MESSENGER's extended mission, high-resolution targeted color observations are more rare, as the 3-color base map is covering Mercury's northern hemisphere with the highest-resolution color images that are possible.