BepiColombo Unmasks Mercury’s Hidden Surface With Infrared Breakthrough

On December 1, 2024, BepiColombo completed its fifth flyby of Mercury. During this encounter, it became the first spacecraft to observe Mercury in mid-infrared light. These groundbreaking images revealed differences in temperature and surface composition across the planet’s heavily cratered terrain. Mercury is the least-explored rocky planet in the Solar System. BepiColombo is only the [...]

from SciTechDaily https://ift.tt/WIXKasE