Thursday, January 31, 2008

NASA Pictures Show Mercury is Shrinking

Pictures from the unseen side of Mercury show wrinkles from the shrinking planet and residue from volcanic eruptions. There is also a large landmark that is shaped like a spider.

NASA’s Messenger probe brought back 1,213 pictures and images that show that there are ancient volcanoes on Mercury and the planet is shrinking as it gets older, causing ridges. It is assumed that as the core of Mercury cools down, it contracts and the entire planet shrinks. As the planet shrinks, crust is pushed over one another and forms ridges. Other images showed a spider like shape on the surface. It is made up of a crater with dozens of ridge lines coming from it.

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and before it was thought that the planet was dull like our moon but recent photos show that the planet is more colorful and has areas of baby blues and reds. Mercury also has at least one crater that is filled with its own version of lava.

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