Astronomers have released stunning pictures of Mercury, revealing its icy craters and vast sunlit plains. The European Space Agency (ESA) published three close-up images taken by the BepiColombo spacecraft, which flew 183 miles above the planet’s north pole.
The images show possible icy craters in permanent shadow, as well as extensive sunlit northern plains. The spacecraft also captured views of volcanic plains known as Borealis Planitia, formed by massive lava eruptions over 3.7 billion years ago.
Mercury’s largest impact crater was also visible, measuring over 930 miles wide. The images were obtained during the spacecraft’s sixth pass over Mercury, which took place in January after flying through the planet’s shadow.
The craters captured in the images are among the coldest places in the solar system, despite being relatively close to the Sun. BepiColombo flew past the terminator, a boundary between day and night, allowing it to capture the permanently-shadowed craters at the north pole.
Source: https://news.sky.com/story/mercury-pictures-capture-icy-craters-and-sunlit-plains-of-solar-systems-smallest-planet-13286163