During its first flyby of Mercury, MESSENGER observed many prominent lobate scarps, or "rupes." One of hte most prominent is now informally named Beagle Rupes, part of which is shown here. It is unusual not only for its extreme length (more than 600 kilometers) and curvature, but also because it cuts an extremely elliptical crater. This image is a mosaic of two of the highest-resolution images from MESSENGER's encounter (EN0108826105M and EN0108826206M) overlaid on a much lower-resolution wide-angle shot from later in the encounter.

NASA / JHUAPL / mosaic by Emily Lakdawalla