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Little Mercury may be shrinking faster than scientists expected
NBC Connecticut • • science
Key Points:
- A new study from the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Space Research reveals that Mercury may be shrinking 30% more than previously thought, with a diameter loss of up to 14 miles (23 kilometers) on a planet about 3,000 miles across.
- Researchers found that Mercury’s rough surface, altered by debris from impact craters, likely concealed many shrinkage-related faults, leading to underestimates of the planet's contraction.
- The BepiColombo mission, a European-Japanese spacecraft en route to Mercury, is expected to arrive in orbit by November and will use laser instruments to confirm the extent of Mercury’s shrinkage due to internal cooling.
- Mercury has been shrinking since its formation 4.5 billion years ago as its large iron core cools and contracts, causing the planet’s surface to tighten and wrinkle.
- The study’s findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, offer new insights into planetary contraction and could improve understanding of other shrinking worlds in the solar system.
