          APOD: 2017 December 11 - Mercury Visualized from MESSENGER

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                               2017 December 11
                      Mercury Visualized from MESSENGER
  Video Credit: NASA [2] , JHUAPL [3] , CIW [4] ; Processing:  Roman Tkachenko
           [5] ; Music:  Open Sea Morning by Puddle of Infinity [6]

Explanation: What would it be like to fly over the planet Mercury? Images and
data taken from NASA's robotic MESSENGER [7]  spacecraft that orbited Mercury
[8]  from 2011 to 2015 have been digitally combined to envision a virtual
flight that highlights much of the hot planet's surface. In general, the Solar
System's innermost world [9]  appears similar to Earth's Moon [10]  as it is
covered by a heavily cratered gray terrain. MESSENGER discovered much [11]
about Mercury including that shadows near its poles likely host water ice. The
featured video [12]  opens as Mercury [13]  is viewed from the Sun-facing side
and concludes with the virtual spacecraft retreating [14]  into Mercury's
night. Mercury actually rotates [15]  so slowly that it only completes three
rotations for every two trips around the Sun. In 2018, Europe and Japan plan
to launch BepiColombo [16] to better map Mercury's surface and probe [17]  its
magnetic field [18] .

                  Free Download: The 2018 APOD Calendar [19]
                    Tomorrow's picture: seasonal sky [20]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [32] (MTU [33] ) & Jerry Bonnell [34]
                                  (UMCP [35] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [36] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [37]
              A service of: ASD [38]  at NASA [39]  / GSFC [40]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [41]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [3] http://www.jhuapl.edu/
  [4] https://carnegiescience.edu/
  [5]
http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-imaging/profiles/
roman-tkachenko.html
  [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCinRRg8eM8
  [7]
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/About/Spacecraft-and-Instruments.html#spacecraft
  [8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MESSENGER
  [9] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury
  [10] ap130716.html
  [11] http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/index.html#top10
  [12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-sk_cH6MXc
  [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)
  [14] ap130805.html
  [15] ap130612.html
  [16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BepiColombo
  [17] https://img.thewebawards.com/1000/6/A-Dog-In-The-Dish-Washer.jpg
  [18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGAbuTrm_bI
  [19] https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/fap/APOD_Calendar_2018_300dpi.pdf
  [20] ap171212.html
  [21] ap171210.html
  [22] archivepix.html
  [23] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [24] lib/aptree.html
  [25] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [26] calendar/allyears.html
  [27] /apod.rss
  [28] lib/edlinks.html
  [29] lib/about_apod.html
  [30] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=171211
  [31] ap171212.html
  [32] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [33] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [34] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [35] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [36] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [37] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [38] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [39] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [40] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [41] http://www.mtu.edu/
