
Monochromatic and covered in craters, Mercury may outwardly resemble our Moon but the similarities abruptly end there. Ever since the MESSENGER spacecraft entered orbit around Mercury in 2011, and indeed even since Mariner 10‘s flyby in 1974, peculiar “dark spots” observed on the planet’s surface have intrigued scientists as to their composition and origin. Now, thanks to high-resolution spectral data acquired by MESSENGER during the last few months of its mission, researchers have confirmed that Mercury’s dark spots contain a form of carbon called graphite, excavated by impacts from its ancient crust.
I like your article, very inspiring and thank you for your post
LikeLiked by 2 people
A wondrous discovery but if one day we should go on Mercury to have the graphite mines of our pencils, the latter risk to be very expensive to us !!
Jeff Barani from Vence (France)
LikeLike