First global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury

Q.  Recently NASA has unveiled the first global digital elevation model (DEM) of
- Published on 10 May 16

a. Moon
b. Mercury
c. Mars
d. Venus

ANSWER: Mercury
 
  • NASA’s MESSENGER mission has unveiled the first global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury, revealing in stunning detail the topography across the entire innermost planet.
  • It will also pave the way for scientists to fully characterise Mercury’s geologic history.
  • This new model reveals a variety of interesting topographic features, including the highest and lowest points on the planet.
  • The highest elevation on Mercury is at 4.48 km above Mercury’s average elevation, located just south of the equator in some of Mercury’s oldest terrain.
  • The lowest elevation, at 5.38 km below Mercury’s average, is found on the floor of Rachmaninoff basin, an intriguing double-ring impact basin suspected to host some of the most recent volcanic deposits on the planet.
  • More than 100,000 images were used to create the new model.

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