Mercury News Headlines
Best Images Yet from BepiColombo
9/5/2024
The ESA/JAXA
spacecraft BepiColombo made a successful flyby at Mercury on Sept. 4th,
sending back its best images yet as it flew within 165km of the planet.
The successful maneuver will slow the spacecraft down to enable it to
eventually orbit Mercury starting in November 2026. The B&W images
were taken using the “M-CAM”, the main science camera is shield and will
provide higher resolution images once BepiColumbo starts its scientific
investigation in earnest.
Read More
Tiny (But Rich!)
7/24/2024
Move over Ft. Knox. NASA scientists recently put
forth the idea that tiny Mercury may have up to 10 miles of diamonds as
part of its mantle. Using data from the MESSENGER spacecraft which found
patches of graphite on the surface, scientists believe that at the
interface between mantle and core of the carbon-rich planet a diamond
layer would develop.
Read More
Event Calendar
Sep 30, 2024
Mercury at superior conjunction
Nov 16, 2024
Mercury at greatest eastern (evening) elongation
Nov 20, 2024
Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky
Observation Spotlight
Equipment: C14 EDGE HD, ASI462MM in IR
Image taken by Luigi Morrone of Italy using a 355mm Celestron SCT resolves several large-scale features on Mercury. (WinJUPOS simulation at right)