Astronomy Picture of the Day · January 20, 1996

Mercury's Caloris Basin

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 20, 1996 is “Mercury's Caloris Basin,” an image. It is credited to Credit: NASA, JPL, Mariner 10. The original explanation runs about 112 words.

From the explanation

“Mercury , the closest planet to the Sun , has a surface with so many craters it resembles the Earth ‘s Moon . The largest surface feature on Mercury is the Caloris Basin, which resulted from a collision with an asteroid .”

— APOD editors, January 20, 1996

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: January 20, 1996
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: NASA, JPL, Mariner 10
Copyright: No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 112 words

All of January 1996 → · 1996 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The Moon The Sun Asteroids

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: January 20 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, January 20, 1996 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-1996-january-20-mercurys-caloris-basin

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.