Scientists have uncovered the mystery of the dark surface of Mercury – RSUTE

Moscow / 09.03.2016 16:45 / RSUTE.ru

The closest to the Sun and the smallest planet in the solar system Mercury is quite dark surface. In any case, it reflects much less sunlight than the moon. However, the surface of the moon reflects only 7% of the incident light, what many do not realize, looking at the bright lunar disk. But the “darkness” of the moon is associated with the abundance of its rich mineral iron surface. A Mercury of poor

Located closest to the Sun Mercury -. A difficult planet to explore. The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was Mariner 10, which flew past him in the years 1974 and 1975. A whole half of the world have never been observed, remained a mystery for a long time.

About 30 years later, NASA sent a spacecraft MESSENGER to study Mercury up close. The spacecraft passed countless new data about the planet back to Earth until it crashed into Mercury and completed his mission.

The surface of Mercury is very similar to our moon, covered with impact craters. Like the Moon, Mercury exhibits a full range of phases, is moving in its orbit relative to the Earth.

In one of the hemispheres of the planet MESSENGER discovered concentrations of potassium, uranium, chlorine, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium, aluminum, silicon, thorium, and sulfur.

The mystery for scientists remained dark surface of Mercury. Like the moon, Mercury is often exposed to micrometeorites, because it has no atmosphere. In 2015, scientists have suggested that the culprit was the dark surface of the planet carbon that accumulated slowly from the impact of comets passing the inner part of the solar system. Carbon-rich comet dust, according to scientists, acts as an invisible paint that reduces reflection coefficient on a small planet, but direct evidence of this was not.

Now, a team of researchers led by Patrick Peplovski, examined data from the MESSENGER, confirmed that Mercury’s dark hue indeed due to the abundance of carbon. However, instead of comet dust, however, carbon is likely to appear on the surface of the planet’s crust, rich in graphite.

Thanks to the MESSENGER Neutron Spectrometer, was able to understand the distribution of carbon, which has created a dark surface. The use of neutron and X-ray confirmed that Mercury’s crust is not rich in iron, which could also create a similar effect.