Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Mar 11, 2013

Scientists Hope to Extend Mercury Spacecraft's Mission

The first spacecraft ever to orbit the planet Mercury is nearing the end of its mission — unless its science team has anything to say about it. Researchers have petitioned NASA for a two-year mission extension on the Messenger spacecraft, which has already spent two years orbiting the closest planet...

Mar 29, 2013

Green Meteorite May Be from Mercury, a First

Scientists may have discovered the first meteorite from Mercury. The green rock found in Morocco last year may be the first known visitor from the solar system's innermost planet, according to meteorite scientist Anthony Irving, who unveiled the new findings this month at the 44th annual Lunar and Planetary Science...

Apr 8, 2013

Green Meteorite's Age Casts Doubt on Possible Mercury Origin

A strange green space rock hailed as perhaps the first meteorite ever discovered from Mercury may be too old to have come from the solar system's innermost planet, some scientists say. Last month, scientists announced that the green-hued meteorite NWA 7325 shares many chemical similarities with Mercury, suggesting it may...

Apr 25, 2013

Sun Fires Off 3 Solar Eruptions Toward Mercury

The sun has unleashed a trio of solar eruptions toward the planet Mercury in recent days, solar storms that may pass one NASA spacecraft while dealing a glancing blow to another, NASA officials say. The three flares erupted from the sun over the span of two days, and belched waves...

Jul 3, 2013

Mercury's Volcanic Facelift Belies Planet's True Age

Mercury is looking good for its age. Even the oldest parts of the surface of the planet closest to the sun are only 4 billion to 4.1 billion years old, not 4.5 billion years old — the age at which the planet formed, a new study finds. If the oldest...

Oct 16, 2013

Does Mercury Hold Clues to Birth of Earth's Moon?

LONDON — Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, may hold clues to understanding how the Earth's moon was born, a scientist studying the planet says. Just like the moon, Mercury is a desolate, rocky and airless body, albeit a bit bigger than Earth's satellite, said Sean Solomon, the...

Dec 7, 2013

Did Volcano on Mercury Erupt for a Billion Years? (Op-Ed)

Robin Wylie is a doctoral candidate in volcanology at University College London. He contributed this article to SPACE.com Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Extra-terrestrial volcanism is every bit as stellar as its sounds. The Earth puts on its fair share of spectacular eruptions — but it's Earth's distant cousins who...

Feb 7, 2014

NASA Spacecraft Snaps More than 200,000 Photos of Mercury (Image)

A probe orbiting Mercury has beamed more than 200,000 images to ground controllers on Earth, and it's still going strong. NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has been in orbit around Mercury since 2011. Originally, scientists only expected the probe to beam 1,000 or 2,000 images of Mercury home during the life of...

Apr 15, 2015

Early Earth May Have Absorbed Mercury-like Object

A key ingredient of the early Earth may have been a chunk of rock much like Mercury, scientists say. This finding could help explain how Earth's magnetic field has lasted for billions of years, researchers added. Scientists think Earth formed at about the same time as the sun and the...

Jun 10, 2015

Mystery on Mercury: Strange Pattern of Huge Cliffs Defy Explanation

A baffling new mystery has turned up on Mercury — a pattern of giant cliffs and ridges on the planet's surface that defies any explanation that scientists have currently been able to offer. Mercury is the solar system's smallest and innermost world. It was an enigmatic planet for years. Until...

May 9, 2016

The Mercury Transit: How to See the Rare Event Online Today

Today (May 9), Mercury will pass directly across the face of the sun — an event that won't happen again until 2019. If you're not able to watch the event live, there are a multiple ways to follow the action online. As seen from Earth, Mercury will begin inching its...

May 9, 2016

Mercury Finishes Its Run Across the Sun

Citizen skywatchers, amateur astronomers and scientists alike looked skyward today (May 9) to see Mercury pass across the face of the sun, an event that will not happen again until 2019. The solar system's smallest planet made a slow passage across the bright solar disc — an event that astronomers...

May 9, 2016

Gorgeous New Mercury Maps Showcase Planet's Striking Features

A stunning digital model of Mercury unveils the planet's striking landscape, while other new maps provide a closer look at the shadowed northern pole and reveal the highest and lowest points on the closest planet to the sun. Built with data from NASA's MESSENGER mission that orbited Mercury for four...

May 13, 2016

See the Sharpest-Ever View of Mercury's Transit Across the Sun

On May 9, the solar system's innermost planet migrated across the bright disk of the sun. Amateur astronomers and professional observatories alike captured images and videos of this rare event. But one view of Mercury's pilgrimage accomplished something unprecedented: the highest-ever spatial-resolution images of a Mercury transit. The images are...

Nov 17, 2016

Mercury Is Shrinking

Poor little Mercury is getting even smaller. Astronomers have discovered a large valley on Mercury that provides further evidence for the planet's shrinkage — an odd phenomenon that has been the topic of debate for decades. NASA created a video overview of Mercury's 'Great Valley' here. This newfound feature is...