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Billions of years ago, Mercury was choked in unimaginable amounts of lava. About six percent of the entire planet was covered in the lava of a single volcanic maelstrom. Not bad considering we weren't even sure Mercury had volcanoes. More »
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It was only three months ago that the first ever close-up images of Mercury from orbit were taken by the MESSENGER probe. Now, in commemoration of MESSENGER's hundredth orbit of the first planet, here's a look at Mercury's colorful side. More »
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NASA's Messenger probe has already taken thousands of photos of Mercury's surface after coming into orbit around the planet earlier this week. And it's got plenty still to do, including searching for hidden pockets of ice on Mercury's boiling surface. More »
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This is a historic moment - for the first time ever, a probe has seen the solar system's innermost planet from orbit, and this is the photo it took just a few short hours ago. More »
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NASA's Messenger probe is currently orbiting close around the Sun in preparation for its mission to Mercury. While making its lonely orbit, Messenger snapped this amazing photo that shows all the planets (plus our Moon) in one big family photo. More »
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If you're planning a trip to Mercury, you'll need the first map ever released of the solar system's innermost planet, a mosaic of photos from the Mercury missions. More »
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Ever since the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto to a dwarf planet (does it even deserve a capital "P"???) in 2006, astronomers around the world have been at odds to describe just what they mean when they say the word "planet." For the moment, the solar system is holding steady with eight of them, but late last week evidence returned from the Mercury MESSENGER mission showed that the smallest planet left is shrinking. One has to wonder: how long will it be before Mercury gets plutoed? More »
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NASA's probe MESSENGER flew by Mercury a couple of weeks ago, and the photos have started pouring in. This is one of the most striking. Nicknamed "the spider," it's probably the result of a meteor impact with about fifty cracks radiating outward from it. Apparently, it's the only such structure in the solar system, making it officially cool. More »
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NASA's Messenger space probe finally sent back its first high-res images of Mercury's dark side, and they're surprisingly sparkling. Mercury's dark side is actually "illuminated obliquely" by the sun. Messenger is giving us our first real view of Mercury's Caloris basin, and may help to solve mysteries like why Mercury has a magnetic field when Venus and Mars don't, and what lurks in its shaded polar regions. Click through for the full image. More »
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The Messenger Space Probe is flying past Mercury as you read this, taking pictures of the night side of the planet no human has yet seen. It'll be a while before we get images as cool as the 1997 NASA image on the left. But you can download realtime images from the probe's cameras, and combine them to make your own Mercury art right now. Click through for images and a tutorial. More »
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