Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Mercury

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

Mercury as seen by Messenger

Trending Today

Today The Messenger Spacecraft Will Crash Into Mercury

After years of exciting observations and stunning pictures of Mercury, the spacecraft has run out of fuel

Mercury's Munch crater, as viewed by the MESSENGER probe.

Trending Today

The Messenger Probe Will Soon Crash Into Mercury

As NASA’s probe runs out of propellant, it will crash into the planet’s surface at 8,750 MPH

New Research

Mercury Was Once Bigger, Then It Shrank

As the planet cooled, it contracted and shut off the surface lava flows about 3.8 billion years ago

Page 2 of 2