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Mercury

The updated measurements won't take away Jupiter's status as the solar system's biggest planet.

Scientists Say That Jupiter—the Solar System’s Largest Planet—Might Be Slightly Smaller Than Previously Thought

Updated measurements from NASA’s Juno spacecraft could help researchers better understand the planet’s mysterious interior, as well as other gas giants

Look up throughout the year to catch a wide array of astronomical sights.

Don’t Miss These Ten Celestial Events in 2026, From Aligned Planets to a Total Solar Eclipse

The upcoming year will offer a blood-red moon, spectacular meteor showers and the first glimpse of the sun’s corona since April 2024

A gold mining operation in Peru

Study Finds High Levels of Mercury in Hair Samples From Indigenous Women in Peru and Nicaragua

Small-scale gold mining in the area releases mercury into the environment, where it can make its way into fish and, in turn, humans

The meteorites could open up a new avenue to understand Mercury, pictured, which is notoriously hard to study due to its proximity to the sun.

Scientists Have Never Confirmed a Meteorite From Mercury. Could These Space Rocks From the Desert Be the First?

Two meteorites found in the Sahara show tantalizing similarities to the innermost planet, and while researchers say they are likely not direct samples, “one cannot rule out” the idea

A planet alignment photographed on June 23, 2022, featuring the moon as the brightest object

Seven Planets Will Gather in the Night Sky This Weekend. Here’s What to Expect During the Rare Alignment

While such a lineup is uncommon, the event might not look exactly how you’re imagining it

Craters at Mercury's poles contain permanently shadowed areas that are some of the coldest sites in the solar system, despite their proximity to the sun.

New, Stunning Images of Mercury’s North Pole Will Help Scientists Study the Planet’s Mysterious Permanent Shadows

The BepiColombo spacecraft captured the photographs during its last flyby of Mercury, a maneuver necessary to propel the mission into orbit around the planet

The spacecraft offered a clear view of Mercury's south pole while completing its fourth of six flybys.

See New Detailed Photos of Mercury From a Spacecraft’s Closest Flyby Yet

BepiColombo, a joint European-Japanese mission, completed its fourth close pass of the innermost planet last week, and it will enter Mercury’s orbit in 2026 to learn more about its mysteries

This false-colored image of Mercury reflects the varying age and mineral composition of the surface.

The Seven Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Mercury

Only two robotic missions have made it to the Swift Planet, but they were crucial for upending many false assumptions of that sun-scorched world

Researchers pose with a fragment of asteroid 2024 BX1 they found in Germany. The rock is a very rare type of meteorite called an aubrite.

A ‘Very Rare’ Kind of Space Rock Fell in Germany—and Scientists Recovered the Pieces

Analyses revealed the asteroid was an “aubrite,” a classification that applies to only 80 of 70,000 previously found meteorite fragments

Skywatchers can see five planets this week.

How to Watch Five Planets Align in the Night Sky This Week

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will appear as if in a parade in the Western sky on Tuesday

Researchers turned to Mercury for the possibility of impact-born diamonds because previous surveys of the planet and molten rock found that the surface may have fragments of graphite, a carbon-rich mineral.

Mercury’s Cratered Crust May Hold Glittering Gemstones

Fragments of a graphite shell from the planet’s past and a series of violent meteorite impacts may have combined to form sparkling diamonds

A study of ten narwhal tusks reveals how the animals are responding to a swiftly changing Arctic.

New Research

Study of Narwhal Tusks Reveals a Swiftly Changing Arctic

Chemical analysis of ten tusks shows shifting diets and increasing levels of mercury as climate change warms the polar region

The Maya city of Tikal thrived for hundreds of years but was abandoned in the ninth century A.D.

New Research

Why Did the Maya Abandon the Ancient City of Tikal?

New research suggests mercury and toxic algae poisoned the settlement’s reservoirs

Watch Colorful Sunsets on Distant Planets in This NASA Simulation

New models from a NASA scientist show what the sun’s setting might look like on Venus, Uranus and Mars

An enhanced-color image of Mercury taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2012 as part of a mission to map the geologic features of the planet.

Spacecraft Launching This Week Will Explore the Mysteries of Mercury

The BepiColombo mission will study the geology and magnetism of the smallest planet to search for clues of our solar system’s beginnings

Now held in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum are a 35 mm camera (left) and a digital camera. Each was used by John Glenn on his two journeys into outer space.

How John Glenn’s Encore Space Flight Lifted U.S. Spirits

Two cameras tell the tale of the first American to orbit Earth and his return to space 36 years later

Four of the seven newly named Mercury's faculae lie in the Caloris basin, shown here.

Sci-Fi and Snakes Rule in New Official Names for Features on Pluto’s Largest Moon and Mercury

Stanley Kubrick and Octavia Butler are among the figures honored

Mercury's Great Valley is the dark blue stripe across the center of the image.

Life in the Cosmos

Mercury’s Newly-Discovered “Great Valley” Puts Earth’s Grand Canyon to Shame

The vast scar across the tiny planet is remarkable in itself—but it also reveals that Mercury may still be tectonically active

Mercury’s northern volcanic plains shown in enhanced color to emphasize rocks types. The bottom left portion of the image displays large wrinkle ridges, formed during lava cooling. Near the top of the image, a bright orange region shows the location of a volcanic vent.

New Research

See Mercury’s Landscape in Stunning Detail

A new map of the planet’s surface captures the depths of craters and the peaks of volcanic mountains

An illustration of the path Mercury will take across the sun on May 9.

Cool Finds

For The First Time in a Decade, Watch Mercury Cross the Sun’s Face

Next week’s transit of Mercury is one of the major astronomical events of the year

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