The craters Spitteler and Holberg are prominently featured in this new image from the MESSENGER spacecraft, in orbit around Mercury. (Spitteler, about 42 miles wide, is the one on the left.) These two craters were previously observed by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in 1974 but MESSENGER’s close polar orbit gives scientists a new look.

The craters both exhibit rather large central peaks, although Holberg’s seems to be a bit off-center.

Hey, it happens.

😉

See the full image on the MESSENGER site.

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