NASA Craft Captures Images Of Mercury’s Water-Ice
- 10 years ago
It doesn’t sound plausible that Mercury, a planet where temperatures soar to 800 degrees Fahrenheit, would have water-ice on it, but NASA now has the pictures to prove it.
It doesn’t sound plausible that Mercury, a planet where temperatures soar to 800 degrees Fahrenheit, would have water-ice on it, but NASA now has the pictures to prove it.
The images were taken by one of their crafts just recently, but astronomers have had their eyes on the ice for about 20 years.
That’s when radar first detected the frozen deposits on both the north and south polar areas of the planet.
About 2 years ago the NASA orbiter MESSENGER confirmed their presence and has since gathered photographic evidence of them.
The icy masses are located inside craters where the heat of the sun can’t get to them.
Analysis has placed the time of their origination as being relatively modern.
Scientists arrived at that conclusion upon noting the uppermost layer of the ice was even.
In contrast, adjacent areas that were covered by a dark, organic-molecule-rich matter appeared to occur abruptly.
Said one researcher, "This result was a little surprising, because sharp boundaries indicate that the volatile deposits at Mercury's poles are geologically young."
Knowing such things is important, as the information can help provide clarity on how water spread from planet to planet, including how it ended up on Earth.
It doesn’t sound plausible that Mercury, a planet where temperatures soar to 800 degrees Fahrenheit, would have water-ice on it, but NASA now has the pictures to prove it.
The images were taken by one of their crafts just recently, but astronomers have had their eyes on the ice for about 20 years.
That’s when radar first detected the frozen deposits on both the north and south polar areas of the planet.
About 2 years ago the NASA orbiter MESSENGER confirmed their presence and has since gathered photographic evidence of them.
The icy masses are located inside craters where the heat of the sun can’t get to them.
Analysis has placed the time of their origination as being relatively modern.
Scientists arrived at that conclusion upon noting the uppermost layer of the ice was even.
In contrast, adjacent areas that were covered by a dark, organic-molecule-rich matter appeared to occur abruptly.
Said one researcher, "This result was a little surprising, because sharp boundaries indicate that the volatile deposits at Mercury's poles are geologically young."
Knowing such things is important, as the information can help provide clarity on how water spread from planet to planet, including how it ended up on Earth.