New close-up images of Mercury taken by BepiColombo

June 20 () –

The BepiColombo spacecraft has made the third of six gravity-assist flybys of Mercury, taking images of a new impact crateras well as tectonic and volcanic curiosities.

This ESA/Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) mission performed this maneuver as a trajectory adjustment to enter Mercury’s orbit in 2025. The closest approach took place at 19:34 UTC on June 19, about 236 km above the planet’s surface, on the night side of the planet.

During the close encounter, Monitoring Camera 3 took dozens of images of the rocky planet.

Approaching the night side of the planet, some features began to appear from the shadows about 12 minutes after closest approach, when BepiColombo was already about 1,800 km from the surface. The planet’s surface was most optimally illuminated for imaging from about 20 minutes after close approach and onward, which corresponds to a distance of approximately 3,500 km and more. In these closer images, a host of geological features are visible, including a crater that has been named Manley, after Jamaican artist Edna Manley (1900-1987).

A beautiful wide view of Mercury’s varied terrain, with newly named Manley crater in honor of artist Edna Manley close to center

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— BepiColombo (@BepiColombo) June 20, 2023

While not evident in these flyby images, BepiColombo will further explore from orbit the nature of the dark material associated with Manley Crater and elsewhere. It will seek to measure how much carbon it contains and what minerals are associated with it, to learn more about Mercury’s geologic history.

In the two closest images you can see one of the planet’s most spectacular geologic thrust systems near the planet’s terminator, just to the bottom right of the spacecraft antenna. The scarp, called the Beagle Rupes, is an example of one of Mercury’s many lobed scarps, tectonic features that likely formed as a result of the planet’s cooling and contraction. which caused its surface to wrinkle like a dried apple.

Beagle Rupes was first seen by NASA’s Messenger mission during its initial flyby of the planet in January 2008. It is about 600 km in total length and cuts through a distinctive elongated crater called Sveinsdóttir.

Beagle Rupes borders a slab of Mercury’s crust which has been pushed to the west by at least 2 km over the adjacent terrain. This scarp curves back at each end more strongly than most other examples on Mercury.

Additionally, many nearby impact basins have been inundated by volcanic lavas, making this a fascinating region for follow-up BepiColombo studies.

The complexity of the topography is well displayed, with accentuated shadows near the border between day and night, giving a sense of the heights and depths of the various features.

“Mercury’s cratered area records a 4.6-billion-year history of bombardment by asteroids and comets, which along with unique tectonic curiosities and volcanoes helped scientists unlock the secrets of the planet’s place in the evolution of the Solar System.” . says it’s a statement ESA researcher and planetary scientist Jack Wright, part of the BepiColombo MCAM imaging team.

“The snapshots seen during this flyby set the stage for a dazzling mission ahead for BepiColombo. With the full complement of scientific instruments, we will explore all aspects of the mysterious Mercury, from its core to surface processes, magnetic field and exosphere, to further understand the origin and evolution of a planet close to its parent star.”