The Moon is not the only one to have a hidden side. This is also the case for Mercury, the first planet in our solar system in terms of positioning relative to the Sun. And thanks to a space probe sent 77 million km from Earth, we know more about what it looks like.
Since its launch in 2018, BepiColombo has been circling the gray planet in order to take it from every angle. The robot, the result of a collaboration between the European Space Agency, ESA, and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA, recently took pictures of the “cold, dark side” of the globe 295 kilometers to the above its surface, as well as its north pole, indicates a press release.
The images, posted online on January 9 by the ESA, were described as “stunning” by The Associated Press. They show craters – called Prokofiev, Kandinsky, Tolkien and Gordimer – permanently shadowed at the top of the planet. “This makes these unlit craters some of the coldest places in the solar system, although Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun!”, informs the ESA which adds: “It is interesting to note that evidence exists according to These dark craters contain frozen water. The presence of water on Mercury is one of the main mysteries of Mercury that BepiColombo will study once it is in orbit around the planet.
The photographs also illustrate the volcanic plains of Mercury known (…)
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