Mercury Craters Look Like Cookie Monster in NASA Photo

Craters photographed by MESSENGER spacecraft may appear to resemble a familiar television character, a favorite of children. Image acquired August 29, 2012.

(Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)

It turns out, 'C' is for crater, and not just cookie.

An impact basin spotted on Mercury with two smaller craters above it looks remarkably like the sweet treat-loving Cookie Monster muppet of "Sesame Street" fame — at least to the eyes of scientists working on NASA's Messenger mission to the small planet.

The researchers posted a photo of the crater arrangement with the title "Anyone Else Think This Looks Like the Cookie Monster?" on the Flickr page of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., today (Oct. 12). The charming crater is a giant circle created when a space rock impacted planet Mercury long ago. Two smaller craters dot the upper edge of the main impact site, and were created when lesser asteroids smashed into the planet after the larger strike.

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"The superposition of younger craters on older craters (in this case two smaller craters upon the rim of an older crater) can result in landforms that appear to resemble more familiar shapes to human eyes," the scientists wrote. "More generally, the Law of Superposition allows scientists to determine which surface features pre- and postdate others, leading to a better understanding of the geological history of different regions of Mercury's surface."

Clara has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has written for both Space.com and Live Science.