What Mercury lacks in size it makes up for in beauty.
Thousands of images were taken by NASA’s MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft which scientists then compiled, creating a beautiful mosaic of the rotation of the planet.
The light blue or white areas are young crater rays (material thrown out by impacts on the planet). The medium- and dark-blue areas are part of Mercury’s crust which scientists believe is comprised of opaque material. Brown areas are the result of fluid lavas.
Mercury is the first planet in our solar system and orbits a mere 57,910,000 kms from the sun.
The spacecraft, launched in August 2004, made several flybys of Mercury before it inserted itself into orbit on March 18, 2011.
Astronomers are looking to answer many questions about the small planet, including why it is so dense, what the geological history of Mercury is, as well as the nature of its magnetic field.
In November 2012, scientists revealed that, despite the close proximity to the sun, Mercury’s poles contain ice as well as other frozen material. The planet is able to have frozen poles because, unlike Earth, its rotational tilt is almost zero, therefore there are parts of the poles which never see sunlight.
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