Where In The Universe #94

Here’s another Where In The Universe Challenge, to test your visual knowledge of the cosmos. This week’s image was submitted by UT reader Jason Major, who is hoping this one will pose a challenge for everyone. But you know what to do: take a look at this image and see if you can determine where in the universe this image is from; give yourself extra points if you can name the instrument responsible for the image. We’ll provide the image today, but won’t reveal the answer until tomorrow. This gives you a chance to mull over the image and provide your answer/guess in the comment section. Please, no links or extensive explanations of what you think this is — give everyone the chance to guess.

Good Luck!

UPDATE: The answer is now below.

This is Rembrandt Crater on Mercury as seen by the MESSENGER spacecraft. Rembrandt is a relatively young impact basin, and forming about 3.9 billion years ago, is younger than any other known impact region on the planet. Images from MESSENGER show pristine terrain on the outer portion of the crater, as well as unusual tectonic fault features, not found in any other big crater. You can read more about it in our previous article about “New Mysteries Unveiled on Mercury.”

Thanks once again to Jason Major for submitting this week’s image. Check back next week for another WITU challenge!