Mercury’s Surface

Image Credit: NASA, JHU APL, CIW

Image Credit: NASA, JHU APL, CIW

Astronomers have asked many times why d0 Mercury’s craters appear smooth on the inside?  Images taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft could provide the answers.  MESSENGER flew past Mercury in October 2008 and took images of previously uncharted regions of the planet.   The images show the planet to have large craters with internal smoothness, very similar to the Moon and are thought to have been flooded by lava flows.  The lava flows inside the craters are thought to be fairly old , but the cratered surface is considered to be older.

MESSENGER will fly past Mercury again during late 2009 before entering orbit in 2011.


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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 11:06 pm and is filed under Astronomy, Planets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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2 Responses to “Mercury’s Surface”

  1. piratenamedneo Says:
    June 3rd, 2009 at 11:02 am

    I think rather than “impact” craters these are bubbles, ever seen the remains of a bic lighter melt-down?

  2. Bellatrix Orionis Says:
    June 3rd, 2009 at 10:48 pm

    Interesting thought, though I can’t admit to ever having seen the remains of a bic lighter melt-down.

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