NASA’s Messenger probe has snapped this close up image of Mercury, a rather better one than the initial sliver shot taken on approach. This is the first time a probe has visited the planet since Mariner 10 in 1975.
Nature’s previous coverage of the mission from January 10th should tell you all you need to know, now here are the latest pictures.
Although it may look rather like the Moon, the January 14th shot below has what NASA calls “a variety of intriguing surface features”. Note the small craters 270 metres across, one of the highest and longest cliffs seen on Mercury curving from the top centre down across the right side of the photo, and the impact crater where part of the cliff near the top of the shot has been destroyed. (Although NASA doesn’t note why these features are “intriguing”.)
More
Animation of flyby (large file)
Mercury amazes scientists – Baltimore Sun
Latest Flyby Gives New Views of Mercury – NY Times
Images: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington