The first and most stunning image of Mercury this year, made by Bepi Colombo. See it here
Article by: Andacs Robert Eugen, on 23 June 2022, at 09:12 am Los Angeles time
ESA / JAXA's BepiColombo spacecraft made the first and most stunning image this year of the Sun's closest planet, Mercury, showing its rich geological landscape.
BepiColombo flew across the planet for a gravitational maneuver needed in his study of Mercury.
According to the European space agency, the image was taken at 09:49:22 UTC by Mercury Transfer Module's Monitoring Camera 2, at an altitude of 920 km from the planet's surface.
Also, just 5 minutes before, BepiColombo came closest to the planet, reaching a height of approx. 200 km of the surface around 09:44 UTC.
"The lighting conditions in this image are different to any recorded by NASA's MESSENGER mission to Mercury for this region, enhancing the differences between smooth terrains and older rough terrains," said ESA in a post.
In addition to the spectacular geological formations, in the image can be seen a crater of 200 km wide somewhere partially hidden under the arm of the magnetometer which is also visible on the left.
We wish BepiColombo success to surprise us with such images and data in the future.