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BepiColombo

9th September, 2024

Mercury’s south pole

Source: IndianExpress

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context

  • On September 8, 2024, BepiColombo made its closest approach to Mercury, capturing sharp black-and-white images of its surface.
  • These images provide the first clear view of Mercury’s South Pole, showing cratered terrain and peak ring basins like Vivaldi and Stoddart.

Details

BepiColombo Mission

  • BepiColombo is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), launched in 2018. 
  • Its main goal is to study Mercury.
  • The spacecraft is set to orbit Mercury by 2026, following a series of flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury to gradually slow down its velocity.
  • BepiColombo has two more flybys scheduled for December 2024 and January 2025. 
  • After these, it will spend two years orbiting the Sun before finally reaching its orbit around Mercury.

Significance

  • The mission aims to explore Mercury’s composition, geology, magnetic field, and its origins.
  • Studying peak ring basins will help to understand 
  • the planet’s ancient volcanism and ongoing geological activity.
  • The mission also seeks to understand how Mercury’s large core, volatile-rich composition, and the presence of water ice on its surface can exist despite its proximity to the Sun.

About Mercury

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Feature

Details

Position

Closest planet to the Sun.

Size

Smallest planet in the solar system.

Moons

None.

Orbital Speed

Revolves around the Sun faster than any other planet. Named after the Roman god Mercury (messenger god).

Density

Second densest planet after Earth with a metallic core that makes up 75% of its diameter (3,600-3,800 km).

Surface Temperature

Day: 450°C; Night: -170°C.

Craters

Surface pockmarked with craters due to lack of atmosphere.

Caloris Basin

Vast impact crater formed by an asteroid about 4 billion years ago.

Spin

Research suggests a large impact may have affected its spin.

Shrinking Planet

Shrinking due to the cooling and solidifying of its iron core.

Atmosphere

Thin exosphere containing 42% oxygen, 29% sodium, 22% hydrogen, 6% helium, and 0.5% potassium.

Orbital Period

Completes one orbit around the Sun every 88 Earth days.

Orbit Shape

Highly elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit.

Spin-Orbit Resonance

3:2 resonance: This means that it spins on its axis two times for every three times it goes around the sun. So a day on Mercury lasts 59 Earth days, while Mercury's year is 88 Earth days.

Year Duration

A year on Mercury is 88 Earth days.

Temperature Comparison

Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system (Venus is hotter).

Space Missions to Mercury

Mission

Agency

Launch Date

Objectives

Status/Outcome

Mariner 10

NASA

1973

First mission to fly by Mercury; mapped ~45% of its surface

Successful: Performed 3 flybys in 1974 and 1975

MESSENGER

NASA

2004

Orbited Mercury; studied geology, magnetic field, and thin atmosphere

Successful: Orbited Mercury from 2011-2015; ended with crash into Mercury

BepiColombo

ESA & JAXA

2018

Two orbiters studying Mercury’s surface, magnetic field, and exosphere

En route: Orbit insertion planned for 2026

Sources: IndianExpress

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q: Consider the following statements about Mercury:

  1. The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA’s Messenger.
  2. Mercury is the hottest planet in the solar system.
  3. Mercury is continuously shrinking.

Which of the above statements is/are incorrect?

A. 1 and 2

B. 2 and 3

C. None

D. 1, 2 and 3

Answer: A

Explanation:

1st statement is incorrect: The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was Mariner 10, which imaged about 45% of the surface and detected its magnetic field.

2nd statement is incorrect: Venus' very thick atmosphere traps so much heat by the greenhouse effect that it has the hottest surface despite being almost twice as far from the sun as Mercury.

3rd statement is correct: It is made up of a single continental plate over a cooling iron core. As the core cools, it solidifies, reducing the planet's volume and causing it to shrink.

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