Mercury's mysteries start to unfold

摘要

Writing in Science, Smith et al. and Zuber et al. report analyses of data obtained by NASA's MESSENGER space mission that advance our understanding of Mercury, the innermost of the eight planets in the Solar System. Smith and colleagues determine Mercury's gravity and internal structure, whereas Zuber and co-workers map the topography of the planet's northern hemisphere. Taken together with earlier results on Mercury's magnetic field and variable spin, the new studies suggest that the planet's structure and evolution are unlike those of any other terrestrial planet or moon in the Solar System.