This image of Mercury’s surface was taken by M-CAM 1 aboard the Mercury Transfer Module (part of … [+]
Venus may be grabbing all the headlines, but the craters of Mercury’s north polar region star in the latest stunning images from the $1.8 billion BepiColumbo mission.
Flying just 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury’s surface on January 8, 2025, the spacecraft – which was built in the UK – imaged the craters on the sun planet’s great northern plains. It also imaged polar craters suspected of harboring ice and whose floors may be in permanent shadow.
Despite Mercury being about 39% as far from the sun as Earth, its surface temperature can range from -290 degrees Fahrenheit (-180 degrees Celsius) at night to 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius).
Shadow craters
The images of the flight, all 1024×1024 pixel black and white pictures, come from two M-CAM monitoring cameras on BepiColombo that are mainly there to monitor the ship’s solar panels, antenna and magnetometer boom.
The image above shows the shadowy craters at the North Pole, including Prokofiev and Kandinsky. These cold, dim craters may contain frozen water—a key mystery for future study. Nearby, the vast volcanic plains of Borealis Planitia display ancient lava flows and surface wrinkles.
This image of Mercury’s surface was taken by M-CAM 1 aboard the Mercury Transfer Module (part of … [+]
Craters and basins
BepiColombo’s second image reveals Mercury’s flat Borealis Planitia, with lava-flooded craters like Mendelssohn and Rustaveli, their rims barely visible. Dominant in the lower left is the massive Caloris basin, spanning 1,500 km, surrounded by radiating troughs from its ancient impact. A bright lava flow near a deep trough hints at volcanic mysteries yet to be solved.
BepiColombo is named after the late Professor Giuseppe (Bepi) Colombo, an Italian mathematician and engineer who discovered a resonance that causes Mercury to rotate on its axis three times every two years.
This is one of a series of images taken by the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission on January 8, 2025 as … [+]
Volcanic eruption
BepiColombo’s third flyby image shows Nathair Facula near the upper edge of Mercury, the site of the planet’s largest volcanic eruption. A 40 km wide vent is located at its center, surrounded by a 300 km wide deposit from at least three eruptions. To the left lies Fonteyn Crater, only 300 million years old, its bright remnants of the impact radiating outward.
BepiColombo follows in the footsteps of NASA’s Mariner 10, which photographed Mercury in 1974-75, and NASA’s MESSENGER, which mapped it from 2008-2015.
BepiColumbo’s Journey
BepiColumbo is on a seven-year journey from Earth to Mercury, most of which is necessary for the spacecraft to slow down enough to enter safe orbit. After leaving Earth in 2018, it will reach the closest planet to the sun in November 2026. That’s an 11-month delay from the original date, caused by a technical problem with its solar panels identified in April that means that BepiColumbo’s drivers are not fully functional. power. This was the last of six gravity assist maneuvers to get it into orbit.
Infographic explaining Wednesday’s sixth flight from BepiColombo.
Joint Mission
The joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency – about the size of a giraffe – is two spacecraft, ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter. They will separate from the chassis before entering different orbits around Mercury.
The two orbiters will collaborate to investigate the origin and evolution of Mercury and its interior structure, geological features, composition and craters. They will also study the atmosphere, magnetosphere and the effect of the solar wind, explore the origin of Mercury’s magnetic field and analyze deposits at its poles. They will also map the planet at different wavelengths.
I wish you clear skies and open eyes.
