Mercury Photos | Universe Today

Written by Fraser Cain

Here are some cool Mercury photos:

This amazing Mercury image is actually a mosaic of Mercury photos taken by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. Jason Perry put together 65 images of Mercury captured during Mercury's most recent flyby into this high resolution image.

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This is an image of the Caloris Basin on Mercury, the site of the largest impact crater on the planet, measuring 1,300 km across. The impact was so large that astronomers think seismic waves traveled through the planet and caused volcanic eruptions on the opposite side of the planet.

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When NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft first visited Mercury in 1974, it was only able to image about half of the planet during its 3 flybys. The hidden side of Mercury wasn't seen until NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft returned to Mercury in 2008. We now have hig resolution images of the entire planet.

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Although Mercury is small, it's actually the second densest planet in the Solar System (after Earth). This is because 60% of the planet is made up of its metallic core. This core is surrounded by a rocky mantle and a thin crust.

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This is an artist's impression of the BepiColumbo mission. If all goes well, this European spacecraft will launch for Mercury in 2014.

We have written many articles about Mercury for Universe Today. Here's an article about some features of Mercury. And here's an article about the location of Mercury.

If you'd like more information about Mercury, check out NASA's World Book on Mercury. And if you'd like more Mercury photos, I recommend you take a look at the MESSENGER mission website. That's where all the new images taken by the spacecraft are released.

We have also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast that's just about Mercury. Listen here, Episode 49: Mercury.

Filed under: Astronomy

Tags: Mercury, photo, photos, planet mercury