                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         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.

                                2019 April 28
                                All of Mercury
     Image Credit: NASA [2] / JHU Applied Physics Lab [3] / Carnegie Inst.
                                Washington [4]

Explanation: Only six years ago, the entire surface [5] of planet Mercury was
finally mapped. Detailed observations of the innermost planet [6] 's
surprising crust began when the robotic have been ongoing since the robotic
MESSENGER spacecraft [7] first passed Mercury in 2008 and continued until its
controlled crash landing [8]  in 2015. Previously, much of the Mercury's
surface [9]  was unknown as it is too far for Earth-bound telescopes to see
clearly, while the Mariner 10 [10] flybys in the 1970s observed only about
half. The featured video [11] is a compilation of thousands of images of
Mercury [12] rendered in exaggerated colors [13] to better contrast different
surface features. Visible on the rotating world [14]  are rays emanating [15]
from a northern impact that stretch across much of the planet, while about
half-way through the video the light colored Caloris Basin [16]  rotates into
view, a northern ancient impact feature that filled with lava [17] . Recent
analysis [18]  of MESSENGER data indicates that Mercury has a solid inner core
[19] .

     Surf the Universe: Click here to see a randomly selected APOD! [20]
                  Tomorrow's picture: calibrated star cloud

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
< [21] | Archive [22] | Submissions [23] | Index [24] | Search [25] | Calendar
  [26] | RSS [27] | Education [28] | About APOD [29] | Discuss [30] | > [31]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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]
----------
Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [3] http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/
  [4] https://www.ciw.edu/
  [5] http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17230
  [6] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/overview/
  [7] http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/the_mission/index.html
  [8] ap150501.html
  [9] ap080319.html
  [10] https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mariner-10/
  [11] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmYK479EpQc
  [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)
  [13] ap130301.html
  [14] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/in-depth/
  [15] ap081008.html
  [16] ap080710.html
  [17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmCJSS2YAP0
  [18] https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2018GL081135
  [19]
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/908/
discovery-alert-a-closer-look-at-mercurys-spin-and-gravity-reveals-the-planets-
inner-solid-core/
  [20] random_apod.html
  [21] ap190427.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=190428
  [31] ap190429.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/
