To explore the mysteries of mercury, scientists will launch two stations – the Express newspaper

In particular, they want to know if the planet is “iron snow”

In 2018, the nearest to the Sun and smallest planet in the Solar system — mercury — will go from two stations. They plan to launch Japan and the European Union. First, Mercury Planet Orbiter, will be engaged in the preparation multivalue map the surface of mercury. Second, the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter will study the magnetosphere of the planet. The magnetic field of mercury is of particular interest to science: his study can be very helpful in explaining the nature of the magnetic field of the Earth.

As reported Lenta.ru previously mercury studied in detail only two stations — Mariner 10 and MESSENGER. After research last nature magnetic field of the planet became clearer, but still very much unknown. As scholars have noted, the magnetosphere of mercury is about one hundred times weaker than the earth, and like Earth, has two, not four as gas giants, magnetic pole. The question of the structure of the planet is still open.

One of the main hypotheses, which scientists hope to test the future of the expedition, — the presence on mercury of the so-called iron snow — flakes of metal, which contains an outer layer of the kernel. However, waiting for the first results of the mission will have quite a long time — took to the roads in 2018, the station of mercury reached only in 2025.

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