ESA said the plane arrived on the night side of the planet Mercury, so the resulting photo was not optimal. But this photo is extraordinary because it was taken from an altitude of 199 kilometers with the closest distance from Mercury about 1,000 kilometers.
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Mercury’s photo shows the Northern Hemisphere, including a large crater and an area that was inundated by lava billions of years ago. “It was incredible to finally see our target planet,” said Elsa Montagnon, Spacecraft Operations Manager for the mission. Science Alert, Monday (4/10/2021).
The BepiColombo mission will study all aspects of Mercury from its core to surface processes, magnetic fields, and the exosphere. “To better understand the origin and evolution of a planet close to its parent star,” the agency said.
Mercury is the only rocky planet that orbits the Sun apart from Earth which has a magnetic field. The magnetic field is generated by the molten core but given its size, Mercury should be cold and solid by now, like Mars.
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Planet Mercury is an extreme planet, hot at around 430 degrees Celsius during the day and very cold at night with a temperature of minus 180C. Day and night on Mercury last almost three months like time on Earth.
Previous missions have detected evidence of ice in the deepest recesses of the planet’s polar craters. Scientists speculate that this may have accumulated from a comet hitting Mercury’s surface.
BepiColombo plans to make five flights over Mercury during a complex trajectory that will also see satellites as they pass through Venus and Earth.
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