The early images from the flyby show the crater Kuiper and the first views from a spacecraft of an area to the crater’s east. Researchers hope to use them to map the planet’s surface. Nearly 1,200 photos are expected from Monday’s flight. The flyby was designed largely to pick up a gravitational boost of energy for the craft.

Data from Messenger’s first flyby in January showed massive lava flows had shaped the planet and provided the first information on 20 percent of Mercury’s surface.

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