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Mercury: The incredible shrinking planet
Mercury: The incredible shrinking planet
The solar system's smallest planet has been shrinking at an unexpected rate, researchers announced on Thursday.

When NASA's Mariner 10 probe flew by Mercury in 1974 and 1975, it returned images of strange cliffs called 'scarps' that cut across all sorts of geological formations. That suggested that the planet's surface has contracted over time. picked by AutumnLotus 5 months ago
tags mercury shrinking planet mariner shrink
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12
 ieldanth
5 months ago
So the Sun is slowly eating it like a cosmic lollypop?
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 pocksuck...
5 months ago
Maybe it's cold.
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 fentwin
5 months ago
« ieldanth : So the Sun is slowly eating it like a cosmic lollypop?
From the article; "In order for such shrinking to take place, Mercury must have had a molten, liquid core that has cooled and contracted over time."

I still like the poetic imagery of Sol seeing how many licks it takes to get to the center of a planet. :)
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