Celestial Bodies and Craters

Images of celestial surfaces featuring craters and geological formations from various planets and moons, showcasing textured gray landscapes.

Inside Eminescu

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on September 20, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel.

The 6-mile-wide (10-kilometer-wide) Oxo Crater stands out on the dark landscape of Ceres in this view from NASA's Dawn spacecraft.

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image was taken on August 21, 2015, and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel.

Wiped Out

This image of Gegania AV-L-09, from the atlas of the giant asteroid Vesta, was created from images taken as NASA's Dawn mission flew around the object, also known as a protoplanet.

This image of Justina AV-L-29, from the atlas of the giant asteroid Vesta, was created from images taken as NASA's Dawn mission flew around the object, also known as a protoplanet.

$Mosaic of a floor-fractured crater, acquired by the Wide Angle Camera onboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter 560 nm filter. Scene is approximately 160 km across.$

Kosho's Debut

Copernicus Crater and The Lunar Timescale

Two adjoining craters on Ceres are featured in this image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. A lobe-shaped feature is prominent in the larger crater's interior. Bright material is visible at the intersection of the two craters.

View of lunar farside as photographed from Apollo 8 spacecraft, Johnson Space Center, NASA , December 24, 1968

Red vs. Blue

This picture from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows two relatively fresh craters within older, highly cratered terrain on Ceres. The young crater at right shows some spurs of compacted material along its rim, as well as some bright streaks along its flanks.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft of asteroid Vesta Fabia shows Justina crater, located in Vesta's Urbinia quadrangle, in Vesta's southern hemisphere.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft is dominated by a double crater which may have been formed by the simultaneous impact of a binary asteroid. Binary asteroids are asteroids that orbit their mutual center of mass.

Strange Neighbors

A sinuous rille created by a lava flow snakes around the base of a massif in the Prinz-Harbinger region on the Moon in this image taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Degraded Craters

In the Wink of an Eye

This view from NASA's Dawn spacecraft features a smooth-walled impact crater in the northern hemisphere of Ceres. The view is centered at approximately 65 degrees north latitude, 155 degrees east longitude.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows Attis Crater on Ceres, which measures 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter. The long shadows in and around the crater reflect Attis's far-southern location.

Permanent Darkness

This image of asteroid Vesta from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a large crater with an irregularly shaped, reasonable sharp, fresh rim.

Mercury and the Deathly Hollows

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows craters in various states of degradation on the asteroid Vesta.

Munkcsy's Inner Ring Painted Over

Stravinsky's Southern Rim

The Palette of Praxiteles

Watchers of the Wall. This image from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft features the sharp rim of an unnamed complex crater on Mercury.

A Different Medusae Fossae Formation

Callisto's Equatorial Region

On July 4th the Narrow Angle Camera onboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter scanned its way towards the north pole at an altitude of 187 km, brushing past the crater Rozhdestvenskiy W.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, tkane on June 6, 2016, shows Piuku Crater (19 miles, 31 kilometers wide), bottom, on Ceres.

A Christmas Crater

This image of asteroid Vesta from NASA's Dawn spacecraft is dominated by a chain of secondary craters located in Vesta's Floronia quadrangle, in Vesta's northern hemisphere.

Two Kinds of Small Craters

Celebrating the 4th with Tchaikovsky

This image of Ceres from NASA's Dawn spacecraft was taken at an oblique viewing angle relative to the surface. The crater to the upper right is named Juling which displays prominent spurs of compacted material along its walls.

converted PNM file

Black Holes in Caloris

A Streaky Plain

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 26, 2015.

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, features a crater at lower right with a sharp rim and bright material on its walls. The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 6, 2015.

Omonga Crater on Ceres was named for a rice spirit who dwells in the moon, according to legends of the Mori people of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. NASA's Dawnspacecraft spotted Omonga from above the surface.

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 24, 2015

When the Going Gets Weird, the Weird Turn Pro

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Sept. 20, 2015, shows a portion of the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers), and has a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel.

Busy Intersection

Crater Crash

NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows Oxo Crater is unique because of the relatively large 'slump' in its crater rim.

Lava Flows Exposed in Bessel Crater

NASA's Dawn spacecraft views Oxo Crater (6 miles, 10 kilometers wide) in this view from Ceres, taken on June 4, 2016, from its low-altitude mapping orbit, at a distance of about 240 miles (385 kilometers) above the surface.

Broad Western Flows from Arsia Mons

Torrid Terraces

NASA's Dawn spacecraft spotted this pair of craters on Ceres on January 25, 2016. The crater at left is named Jaja, after the Abkhazian harvest goddess. Jaja Crater is 13 miles (21 kilometers) in diameter and is located in the northern hemisphere.

This image, from NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft which launched in 1974, is of the Borealis area H-1, located in Mercury's northern hemisphere. The north pole is visible at the top of the image.

Rembrandt's Rim

This image. taken on June 12, 2016, from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows dimly lit, cratered terrain on Ceres. Bright streaks of material are visible on one section of the crater wall (at bottom), and near the top of its central peak.

This image of Eusebia AV-L-27, from the atlas of the giant asteroid Vesta, was created from images taken as NASA's Dawn mission flew around the object, also known as a protoplanet.

Final Eros Images: Range 700 meters (2,300 feet)

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows is located in asteroid Vesta's Rheasilvia quadrangle, near Vesta's south pole. Severina crater has a fresh, sharp rim and a smaller, presumably younger, crater on its rim.

This image was obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on July 23, 2018 from an altitude of about 84 miles (135 kilometers). The center of this picture is located at about 18.7 degrees north latitude and 243.6 degrees east longitude.

A Martian Christmas Present

NASA's Dawn spacecraft spotted this tall, conical mountain on Ceres from a distance of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The mountain, located in the southern hemisphere, stands 4 miles (6 kilometers) high.

This animation depicts the illumination of the topography near Prokofiev crater, showing the small proportion of sunlight that reaches Prokofiev's floor and rim.

This unusual channel feature is located south of Tooting Crater near Lycus Sulci. It most likely formed by the release of melted sub-surface ice. The impact crater event may have caused the heating, or volcanic activity from Olympus Mons. Orbit Number 95004 Latitude 21.9884 Longitude 208.652 Instrument VIS Captured 2023-05-15 22 29

Located in the crater Eminescu, this high-resolution image shows part of the mountainous peak ring, as well as an example of the extensive formation of hollows located within the crater. Hollows maintain an air of mystery in the realm of planetary science. Though the exact formation mechanism is unknown, most scientists agree sublimation of volatiles holds the answer. This image highlights the prevalence of these hollows on and around the peak ring, as well as captures the beauty of such enigmatic formations. This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 200-meter/pixel morphology base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution, but typically several areas of high scientific interest are imaged in this mode each week.

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the surface of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 450 feet (140 meters) per pixel, was taken on August 24, 2015.

Geologic faults among craters on Saturn's moon Tethys are depicted in this image captured during a flyby of the moon by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Aug. 14, 2010.

A Saucerful of Secrets

Observation and Imagination

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 10, 2015.

Watch Out! The Floor's Hollow!

Mare basalts and hummocky ejecta both displaying wrinkle ridges in Aitken crater.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft of asteroid Vesta shows Occia crater, located in Vesta's Gegania quadrangle, in Vesta's southern hemisphere. A distinctive butterfly pattern is seen consisting of two separate lobes of ejecta on the opposite sides.

Small and Dramatic

Monitoring Mercury's South Pole

S71-44671 (30 July 1971) --- A near vertical view of the Hadley-Apennine area, as photographed by the Fairchild metric camera in the Scientific Instrumentation Module (SIM) bay of the Apollo 15 Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit. This picture was taken shortly after the Lunar Module (LM) touched down on the moon. Hadley Rille meanders through the lower center of the picture. The Apennine Mountains dominate the picture. The LM landing site is on the east side of the rille's "chicken beak" in the center of the picture. The crater Hadley C is near the center of the photograph at the west edge of the rille. North will be at the top if the photo is held with the dark mare are on the left. The smooth, dark area is the Marsh of Decay. The three-inch mapping camera was one of eight lunar orbital science experiments mounted in the SIM bay.

The Southern Saddle (Mosaic)

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a very shadowed region in Vesta's northern hemisphere. Roughly the upper one third of asteroid Vesta's northern hemisphere is currently in shadow.

This image, obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on June 9, 2018, shows subtle features on Ceres from an altitude of about 33 miles (53 kilometers).

This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows the brightest spots on dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 24, 2015.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft of asteroid Vesta shows Sossia and Canuleia craters. Sossia is surrounded by dark material in the bottom left of the image and Canuleia is the larger crater surrounded by bright material at bottom right.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft of asteroid Vesta's Fabia crater, roughly 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in diameter with a large area of bright material originating from its top right rim and slumping towards its center.

This image, taken on June 25, 2015 by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows a portion of the southern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers), with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel.

It looks like even the craters on Mercury have heard of Bob Ross! The central peaks of this complex crater have formed in such a way that it resembles a smiling face. This image is oriented so north is toward the bottom. This image was acquired as a high-resolution targeted observation. Targeted observations are images of a small area on Mercury's surface at resolutions much higher than the 200-meter/pixel morphology base map. It is not possible to cover all of Mercury's surface at this high resolution, but typically several areas of high scientific interest are imaged in this mode each week. The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. Visit the Why Mercury section of this website to learn more about the key science questions that the MESSENGER mission is addressing. During the one-year primary mis

This image of Arruntia AV-L-03, from the atlas of the giant asteroid Vesta, was created from images taken as NASA's Dawn mission flew around the object, also known as a protoplanet.

Rock Lobster

Liber Crater is featured at lower left in this image from Ceres. Named for the Roman god of agriculture, Liber is 14 miles (23 kilometers). NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image on June 16, 2016.

Chekhov's Tectonics

A Swath of Eros

Ups and Downs

The Wonder of the Age

Highlighting the Newly Named Crater Eastman

This is one of the most detailed views of the surface of Triton taken by NASA's Voyager 2 on its flyby of the large satellite of Neptune early in the morning of Aug. 25, 1989. The picture was stored on the tape recorder and relayed to Earth later.

Look, It's a Sublimation Formation!

NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image showing cratered terrain with hills and ridges on Vesta's surface on August 6, 2011. This image was taken through the framing camera's clear filter aboard the spacecraft.

The Dark Side of the Crater

Datan Crater is featured in this scene from Ceres captured by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. Datan is imprinted on the older Geshtin Crater, whose terrain fills the rest of the view.

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft of asteroid Vesta shows Eusebia crater, which is the large crater in the top right of the image.

of 4