Mercury in black and white and contrast-enhanced colours
Mercury in black and white and contrast-enhanced colours
With a diameter of just 4881 kilometres (compared to Earth's approximately 12,750 kilometres), Mercury is the smallest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the innermost planet and the least explored rocky planet. Only two space probes have examined it up close. These two global views, in black and white (left) and enhanced colour contrast (right), were created between 2011 and 2013 from thousands of images acquired by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. In late 2026, the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission will be steered into orbit around Mercury from where it will conduct intensive research of the planet. In the run-up to the mission, geophysical investigations have been carried out to determine the influence of extreme temperature differences on Mercury's crust and mantle, as well as the development of the planet, among other things.
Credit:
NASA/JHU-APL/Carnegie Institution of Washington