Add evidence of volcanoes operating on Mercury

The Messenger ship flew over Mercury on January 14 and found more evidence of a volcanic activity on a large planet near the Sun.

Scientists at NASA said more than 1,200 photos from Messenger show that Mercury's surface is the same as the Moon, but the two planets are far apart from each other. Deep grooves on Mercury's surface are covered with ' silky ' material, possibly volcanic lava.

'This expedition shows us an unprecedented portion of the planet's previously discovered spacecraft, and our small ship brought in an interesting field of information', Professor Sean Solomon , technical director of Messenger ship said.

' We went from one surprise to another, ' Professor Solomon said at NASA's press conference. 'Mercury is not the planet we are waiting for. It is not a moon ".

But scientist Louise Prockter, of the Institute of Applied Physics (Johns Hopkins University, Maryland), said there was still suspicion about widespread volcanic activity on Mercury.

The Messenger ship also discovered a structure called " Spider " (The Spider) by the scientists, which has never been seen on Mercury and is different from the "Spider" on the Moon. This structure is located in the middle of the Caloris hole, the widest hole on Mercury, consisting of more than 100 narrow trenches, the flat bottom spreading out in every direction from a central pit about 40km wide. It is still unclear if the concave holes create this structure or appear later for another reason.

Professor Solomon states that Mercury is still an unstable city and the key to understanding the composition of the Solar System and its planets, including Earth.

Earlier, information obtained from the Mariner 10, launched in the 1970s, only showed evidence of small-scale volcanic activity. During their travels in 1974 and 1975, the ship drew about 45% of Mercury's surface. Messenger ship has recently added 30% more and will complete Mercury 'portrait' on the next expedition in October.

Mercury surface taken by Messenger ship (Photo: TTO)

DONG QUANG (General)