Mercury Basic data North hemisphere South hemisphere from MESSENGER Basic data: Radius is 0.38 of...
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![Page 1: Mercury Basic data North hemisphere South hemisphere from MESSENGER Basic data: Radius is 0.38 of Earth’s Mass is 0.06 of Earth’s Orbit has e=0.2, a=0.39AU.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022070413/5697bfe21a28abf838cb48e0/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Mercury
Basic data
North hemisphere
South hemisphere from MESSENGER
Basic data:Radius is 0.38 of Earth’sMass is 0.06 of Earth’s Orbit has e=0.2, a=0.39AUOrbital period 88 daysRotation period of Mercury is 2/3 of this: 58.7 days
Atmosphere is effectively absent, but recently water and organic deposits have been found in north pole craters where sunlight never reaches
![Page 2: Mercury Basic data North hemisphere South hemisphere from MESSENGER Basic data: Radius is 0.38 of Earth’s Mass is 0.06 of Earth’s Orbit has e=0.2, a=0.39AU.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022070413/5697bfe21a28abf838cb48e0/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
J W Head et al. Science 2011Published by AAAS
Smooth plains at high northern latitudesRed circles: cratersBlue circles: ‘ghost’ craters covered by volcanic outflows
Lots of craters BUT evidence of volcanic activity from MESSENGER:
![Page 3: Mercury Basic data North hemisphere South hemisphere from MESSENGER Basic data: Radius is 0.38 of Earth’s Mass is 0.06 of Earth’s Orbit has e=0.2, a=0.39AU.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022070413/5697bfe21a28abf838cb48e0/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
W B McKinnon Science 2012
Once internal compression is taken into account, larger density than Earth
Recent mapping by CWRU’s Steve Hauck has shown that it has a much smaller mantle and larger core than other terrestrial planetsMercury has a magnetic field due to motions in molten core