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First Results From Messenger's Mercury Flyby

Posted by kdawson on from the hot-stuff dept.

Several readers noted the special section in Science, published today, with results from Messenger's flyby of Mercury last January. One conclusion is that volcanism has shaped the planet, contrary to earlier theories that Mercury had been "dead on arrival." The LA Time's coverage highlights the finding that Mercury has shrunk by a mile in diameter over its lifetime, due to shrinkage at its core.

33 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Shrinkage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Mercury's defense, it was in the pool.

    1. Re:Shrinkage by PacketShaper · · Score: 5, Funny

      Usually the "in the pool" defense is because of low temperature...
      I think mercury needs another excuse.

    2. Re:Shrinkage by g0dsp33d · · Score: 3, Funny

      They shouldn't have built that large collider at the center of the planet.

      --
      lol: You see no door there!
    3. Re:Shrinkage by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      The farside of Mercury is one of the coldest places in the Solar System.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    4. Re:Shrinkage by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the correction. I should have remembered that.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  2. Finally by FurtiveGlancer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Mercury has been trying to lose a little around the belt line for eons.

    --
    Invenio via vel creo
  3. DoA ? by wildem · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Contrary to earlier theories that Mercury had been "dead on arrival", so it really did win the Dead or Alive contest as I have suspected all along.

  4. Compact by Aeonite · · Score: 4, Funny

    All the extra Mercury is in our new lightbulbs.

  5. Don't feel bad, mercury by Progman3K · · Score: 1, Funny

    A certain amount of shrinkage is normal with age.

    --
    I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
    1. Re:Don't feel bad, mercury by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

      A certain amount of shrinkage is normal with age.

      WTF, is there really such a thing as penises shrinking with age? :-S

      --
      You just got troll'd!
    2. Re:Don't feel bad, mercury by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

      WTF, is there really such a thing as penises shrinking with age? :-S

      Yes. But don't worry, your balls sag more to compensate.

    3. Re:Don't feel bad, mercury by BollocksToThis · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes. I don't mean to scare you, but I have already reached the big 30, and mine is miniscule. I'm lucky I'm married!

      --
      This sig is part of your complete breakfast.
  6. Discoveries for the taking by spaceyhackerlady · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is why we do it. We haven't paid much attention to Mercury, so almost everything there is new, just waiting to be discovered. Who knows what else we will find?

    ...laura

    1. Re:Discoveries for the taking by tokul · · Score: 2, Insightful

      We haven't paid much attention to Mercury,

      Or it is harder to get to Mercury than to LEO, Moon or Mars.

    2. Re:Discoveries for the taking by brunokummel · · Score: 2, Funny

      We haven't paid much attention to Mercury,

      Or it is harder to get to Mercury than to LEO, Moon or Mars.

      go at night! =)

      --
      What is best in life? To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.
    3. Re:Discoveries for the taking by Doug+Neal · · Score: 2, Funny

      This is why we do it. We haven't paid much attention to Mercury, so almost everything there is
      new, just waiting to be discovered. Who knows what
      else we will find?

      Sounds like the floor underneath my couch.

  7. Re:But it has a tail! by iamapizza · · Score: 1

    It may have shrinkage, but Mercury has a 2.5 million km long tail. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/03/03/2178111.htm Wait, atavism is a good thing, right?

    --
    Always proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
  8. Re:But it has a tail! by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Reminds me of the "Earth is Growing" theory, offered as an alternative to Plate Tectonics.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yqBaD5VwrQ&feature=related

    --
    -1 Uncomfortable Truth
  9. Slightly OT : And still no colour picture! by 4D6963 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All this time after the flyby, and still no real-colour picture of the planet, as they're literally sitting on it. They have entire mosaics of the planet taken in all the probes 11 filters, including red, green and blue filters, and yet they can't be arsed to put those together to finally let use see Mercury in its truest colours!

    Also, where are the updated maps of Mercury? You know, ones that would cover more than the 45% of the surface covered by Mariner 10? God I just wish they would release all their raw images just like they did with Cassini-Huygens so that we could do all the cool stuff they can't be bothered to do. And I feel entitled to this as it's all financed with tax payer money, right? (Well, let's ignore the fact that I'm not even American)

    --
    You just got troll'd!
    1. Re:Slightly OT : And still no colour picture! by FurtiveGlancer · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually, they did blend a full color picture, but it all ended up a rather unexciting flat gray except for a small arrangement of craters which appear as the number 999 in a reddish brown shade and what appears to be a large white handkerchief. Nothing to worry about though, almost certainly some innocent explanation. ~

      --
      Invenio via vel creo
    2. Re:Slightly OT : And still no colour picture! by Loraque · · Score: 2, Informative

      It is a form of art to make many of those pictures look good.

      It may piss you off, just a little, but there is this thing called "dibs".

      For sure someone has shotgun too.

      And you know guys that can call those are BUSY.

    3. Re:Slightly OT : And still no colour picture! by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

      It is a form of art to make many of those pictures look good.

      Complete and utter bullshit. It boggles my mind that someone could be clueless enough to mod you up. Making such pictures is as simple as combining the channels together and making sure these are aligned. That exactly what it takes to make sure that what you look at is just like how it would look if you could take a picture of Mercury with your favourite camera. Period. Anyone can do that with Photoshop in 5 minutes, and you can try you hand at it with the raw images from Cassini-Huygens.

      As for the rest of your comment, what kind of drivel is that?

      --
      You just got troll'd!
    4. Re:Slightly OT : And still no colour picture! by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

      Messenger may not even have a visible spectrum camera.

      Hey how about you open your cake hole only when you've made sure you know what the fuck you're talking about. Obviously if I said there were red, green and filters on this probe that means that it has a "visible spectrum camera". Here's the list of filters on the probe by the way.

      --
      You just got troll'd!
  10. Don't feel bad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Don't feel bad Mercury. I know a lot of people who suffer from shrinkage..

    1. Re:Don't feel bad. by cryptodan · · Score: 1

      Don't feel bad Mercury. I know a lot of people who suffer from shrinkage..

      Are you one of them, because you posted anonymously?

  11. more female geeks needed by nx6310 · · Score: 1

    This discussion turned into a male organ mockery so fast, I can only conclude Mercury and Earth definitely need more female geeks.

    1. Re:more female geeks needed by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1


      This discussion turned into a male organ mockery so fast, I can only conclude Mercury and Earth definitely need more female geeks.

      Well, I haven't heard of planets sagging yet.

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    2. Re:more female geeks needed by pgillan · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, I haven't heard of planets sagging yet.

      Are you saying that Venus can still pass the pencil test?

  12. vulcanism & iron defficiency by heroine · · Score: 4, Funny

    Volcanic eruptions & iron deficiency sound like a planetary version of Hillary Clinton.

  13. Re:But it has a tail! by Anpheus · · Score: 1

    That doesn't make sense though, ShieldW0lf. We see subduction and mountain formation occurring all over, and if that theory were true, there would be no formation of mountains. They would, instead, have "always been there."

    Also, the amount of water was apparently close to none in the early history of Earth, because rather than draw rising oceans due to a smaller surface area, he simply makes the blue areas disappear.

    It just doesn't hold up, sorry.

  14. Re:But it has a tail! by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

    I didn't make the thing.

    --
    -1 Uncomfortable Truth
  15. Do astronomers know about shrinkage? by barzok · · Score: 1

    Maybe it was in the pool?

  16. Re:But it has a tail! by Anpheus · · Score: 1

    Didn't say you did, I used the pronoun "he" to make that distinction. I could have used "you" instead if I sought to say you made that theory.