Mercury may have shrunk much more than we thought, new study hints
New analysis says hidden crater debris may have masked 10% to 30% of Mercury’s contraction, suggesting a larger core and hotter past.
- On Thursday, researchers published a study in Geophysical Research Letters suggesting Mercury has contracted 10% to 30% more than previous models indicated, with impact-crater debris obscuring evidence of this significant shrinkage.
- Lead author Gaku Nishiyama, a planetary scientist at the German Aerospace Center, explained that geologically young impact debris masked the planet's shortening structures, which formed as Mercury cooled over roughly 4.5 billion years.
- The new estimate equates to a total diameter loss of roughly 12 miles since formation, exceeding the 2013 conference finding of about 11 kilometers shrinkage.
- Data from the European Space Agency's BepiColombo spacecraft, which recently began its arrival sequence, will capture higher-resolution imagery to measure topography and contraction with unprecedented precision.
- "If their results hold, and I'm confident they will, then we'll have taken a step further in investigating planets we can't yet visit in person," said Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis.
125 Articles
125 Articles
Smallest Planet Continues to Shrink
A new study suggested that little, wrinkly Mercury is shrinking fater than expected, the cosmos' version of a grap shriving into a grape under the sun, per the AP . Scientists from the German Aerospace Center's Institute of Space Research reported this week that Mercury's shrinkage may be 30% greater than...
Find out how much Mercury shrunk according to NASA's new data-based study and why the figure could change what is known about the planet.
The diameter of Mercury should have decreased up to 14 kilometres since its formation. However, analyses show that there are significantly more. They also reveal something new about the interior of the planet.
Mercury has shrunk by about 11.6 kilometers due to the cooling of the planet's interior. Its surface wrinkles record changes over billions of years.
Astronomers have been observing the change of Merkurs for decades. But apparently it is happening faster than previously thought. This provides surprising evidence of its interior.
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