This is a brief summary that includes only those discoveries catalogued as “extremely important” by the scientists of the Messenger mission, a space probe now on Mercury on January 14 this year.

The secrets of Mercury

The full results of the data collected by the Messenger (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging) are in no less than 11 articles in a special issue of Science magazine, published this Friday.

Our picture of the Week is a colorização made by computer to highlight elements of the surface of Mercury, a subject of six of these articles. The scientists analyzed the colors themselves from the surface of the planet, and their mineralogical and ways of their land.

Volcanoes and active magnetic field

The orange shades highlight geological characteristics that scientists believe are evidence of volcanic eruptions. They surround the entire Caloris Basin, one of the largest and youngest of impact craters of our Solar System.

The magnetic field of Mercury alive, similar to the Earth - dipolar, with a north and south magnetic one - are making the scientists coçarem the head. For the current theories, the iron core of the planet should already have been cooled for a long time and should not be generating more magnetism. Now it will be necessary to wait for more data than the Messenger collect.

The space probe will make two more sobrevôos on Mercury, one in October 2008 and another in September 2009. Only in 2011 she finally enter into orbit of Mercury, for a mission of one year’s duration.