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1.
Zuber MT Smith DE Solomon SC Phillips RJ Peale SJ Head JW Hauck SA McNutt RL Oberst J Neumann GA Lemoine FG Sun X Barnouin-Jha O Harmon JK 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,321(5885):77-79
A 3200-kilometers-long profile of Mercury by the Mercury Laser Altimeter on the MESSENGER spacecraft spans approximately 20% of the near-equatorial region of the planet. Topography along the profile is characterized by a 5.2-kilometer dynamic range and 930-meter root-mean-square roughness. At long wavelengths, topography slopes eastward by 0.02 degrees , implying a variation of equatorial shape that is at least partially compensated. Sampled craters on Mercury are shallower than their counterparts on the Moon, at least in part the result of Mercury's higher gravity. Crater floors vary in roughness and slope, implying complex modification over a range of length scales. 相似文献
2.
Head JW Murchie SL Prockter LM Robinson MS Solomon SC Strom RG Chapman CR Watters TR McClintock WE Blewett DT Gillis-Davis JJ 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,321(5885):69-72
The origin of plains on Mercury, whether by volcanic flooding or impact ejecta ponding, has been controversial since the Mariner 10 flybys (1974-75). High-resolution images (down to 150 meters per pixel) obtained during the first MESSENGER flyby show evidence for volcanic vents around the Caloris basin inner margin and demonstrate that plains were emplaced sequentially inside and adjacent to numerous large impact craters, to thicknesses in excess of several kilometers. Radial graben and a floor-fractured crater may indicate intrusive activity. These observations, coupled with additional evidence from color images and impact crater size-frequency distributions, support a volcanic origin for several regions of plains and substantiate the important role of volcanism in the geological history of Mercury. 相似文献
3.
Robinson MS Murchie SL Blewett DT Domingue DL Hawkins SE Head JW Holsclaw GM McClintock WE McCoy TJ McNutt RL Prockter LM Solomon SC Watters TR 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,321(5885):66-69
Multispectral images of Mercury obtained by the MESSENGER spacecraft reveal that its surface has an overall relatively low reflectance with three large-scale units identified on the basis of reflectance and slope (0.4 to 1.0 micrometer). A higher-reflectance, relatively red material occurs as a distinct class of smooth plains that were likely emplaced volcanically; a lower-reflectance material with a lesser spectral slope may represent a distinct crustal component enriched in opaque minerals, possibly more common at depth. A spectrally intermediate terrain probably forms most of the upper crust. Three other spectrally distinct but spatially restricted units include fresh crater ejecta less affected by space weathering than other surface materials; high-reflectance deposits seen in some crater floors; and moderately high-reflectance, relatively reddish material associated with rimless depressions. 相似文献
4.
Murchie SL Watters TR Robinson MS Head JW Strom RG Chapman CR Solomon SC McClintock WE Prockter LM Domingue DL Blewett DT 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,321(5885):73-76
The Caloris basin, the youngest known large impact basin on Mercury, is revealed in MESSENGER images to be modified by volcanism and deformation in a manner distinct from that of lunar impact basins. The morphology and spatial distribution of basin materials themselves closely match lunar counterparts. Evidence for a volcanic origin of the basin's interior plains includes embayed craters on the basin floor and diffuse deposits surrounding rimless depressions interpreted to be of pyroclastic origin. Unlike lunar maria, the volcanic plains in Caloris are higher in albedo than surrounding basin materials and lack spectral evidence for ferrous iron-bearing silicates. Tectonic landforms, contractional wrinkle ridges and extensional troughs, have distributions and age relations different from their counterparts in and around lunar basins, indicating a different stress history. 相似文献
5.
The planet Mercury was observed before, during, and after the inferior conjunctions of 29 September 1969 and 9 May 1970 at wavelengths of 3.75, 4.75, 8.6, and 12 microns. The average dark-side temperature is 111 degrees +/- 3 degrees K. The thermal inertia of the surface required to fit this temperature is close to that for the moon and indicates that Mercury and the moon have very similar top surface layers. 相似文献
6.
Zurbuchen TH Raines JM Slavin JA Gershman DJ Gilbert JA Gloeckler G Anderson BJ Baker DN Korth H Krimigis SM Sarantos M Schriver D McNutt RL Solomon SC 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,333(6051):1862-1865
Global measurements by MESSENGER of the fluxes of heavy ions at Mercury, particularly sodium (Na(+)) and oxygen (O(+)), exhibit distinct maxima in the northern magnetic-cusp region, indicating that polar regions are important sources of Mercury's ionized exosphere, presumably through solar-wind sputtering near the poles. The observed fluxes of helium (He(+)) are more evenly distributed, indicating a more uniform source such as that expected from evaporation from a helium-saturated surface. In some regions near Mercury, especially the nightside equatorial region, the Na(+) pressure can be a substantial fraction of the proton pressure. 相似文献
7.
Zuber MT Smith DE Phillips RJ Solomon SC Neumann GA Hauck SA Peale SJ Barnouin OS Head JW Johnson CL Lemoine FG Mazarico E Sun X Torrence MH Freed AM Klimczak C Margot JL Oberst J Perry ME McNutt RL Balcerski JA Michel N Talpe MJ Yang D 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2012,336(6078):217-220
Laser altimetry by the MESSENGER spacecraft has yielded a topographic model of the northern hemisphere of Mercury. The dynamic range of elevations is considerably smaller than those of Mars or the Moon. The most prominent feature is an extensive lowland at high northern latitudes that hosts the volcanic northern plains. Within this lowland is a broad topographic rise that experienced uplift after plains emplacement. The interior of the 1500-km-diameter Caloris impact basin has been modified so that part of the basin floor now stands higher than the rim. The elevated portion of the floor of Caloris appears to be part of a quasi-linear rise that extends for approximately half the planetary circumference at mid-latitudes. Collectively, these features imply that long-wavelength changes to Mercury's topography occurred after the earliest phases of the planet's geological history. 相似文献
8.
Head JW Chapman CR Strom RG Fassett CI Denevi BW Blewett DT Ernst CM Watters TR Solomon SC Murchie SL Prockter LM Chabot NL Gillis-Davis JJ Whitten JL Goudge TA Baker DM Hurwitz DM Ostrach LR Xiao Z Merline WJ Kerber L Dickson JL Oberst J Byrne PK Klimczak C Nittler LR 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,333(6051):1853-1856
MESSENGER observations from Mercury orbit reveal that a large contiguous expanse of smooth plains covers much of Mercury's high northern latitudes and occupies more than 6% of the planet's surface area. These plains are smooth, embay other landforms, are distinct in color, show several flow features, and partially or completely bury impact craters, the sizes of which indicate plains thicknesses of more than 1 kilometer and multiple phases of emplacement. These characteristics, as well as associated features, interpreted to have formed by thermal erosion, indicate emplacement in a flood-basalt style, consistent with x-ray spectrometric data indicating surface compositions intermediate between those of basalts and komatiites. The plains formed after the Caloris impact basin, confirming that volcanism was a globally extensive process in Mercury's post-heavy bombardment era. 相似文献
9.
The reflection spectrum for the integral disk of the planet Mercury was measured and was found to have a constant positive slope from 0.32 to 1.05 micrometers, except for absorption features in the infrared. The reflectivity curve matches closely the curve for the lunar upland and mare regions. Thus, the surface of Mercury is probably covered with a lunar-like soil rich in dark glasses of high iron and titanium content. Pyroxene is probably the dominant mafic mineral. 相似文献
10.
Observations of radar speckle patterns tied to the rotation of Mercury establish that the planet occupies a Cassini state with obliquity of 2.11 +/- 0.1 arc minutes. The measurements show that the planet exhibits librations in longitude that are forced at the 88-day orbital period, as predicted by theory. The large amplitude of the oscillations, 35.8 +/- 2 arc seconds, together with the Mariner 10 determination of the gravitational harmonic coefficient C22, indicates that the mantle of Mercury is decoupled from a core that is at least partially molten. 相似文献
11.
Ho GC Krimigis SM Gold RE Baker DN Slavin JA Anderson BJ Korth H Starr RD Lawrence DJ McNutt RL Solomon SC 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,333(6051):1865-1868
The MESSENGER spacecraft began detecting energetic electrons with energies greater than 30 kilo-electron volts (keV) shortly after its insertion into orbit about Mercury. In contrast, no energetic protons were observed. The energetic electrons arrive as bursts lasting from seconds to hours and are most intense close to the planet, distributed in latitude from the equator to the north pole, and present at most local times. Energies can exceed 200 keV but often exhibit cutoffs near 100 keV. Angular distributions of the electrons about the magnetic field suggest that they do not execute complete drift paths around the planet. This set of characteristics demonstrates that Mercury's weak magnetic field does not support Van Allen-type radiation belts, unlike all other planets in the solar system with internal magnetic fields. 相似文献
12.
Zurbuchen TH Raines JM Gloeckler G Krimigis SM Slavin JA Koehn PL Killen RM Sprague AL McNutt RL Solomon SC 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,321(5885):90-92
The region around Mercury is filled with ions that originate from interactions of the solar wind with Mercury's space environment and through ionization of its exosphere. The MESSENGER spacecraft's observations of Mercury's ionized exosphere during its first flyby yielded Na+, O+, and K+ abundances, consistent with expectations from observations of neutral species. There are increases in ions at a mass per charge (m/q) = 32 to 35, which we interpret to be S+ and H2S+, with (S+ + H2S+)/(Na+ + Mg+) = 0.67 +/- 0.06, and from water-group ions around m/q = 18, at an abundance of 0.20 +/- 0.03 relative to Na+ plus Mg+. The fluxes of Na+, O+, and heavier ions are largest near the planet, but these Mercury-derived ions fill the magnetosphere. Doubly ionized ions originating from Mercury imply that electrons with energies less than 1 kiloelectron volt are substantially energized in Mercury's magnetosphere. 相似文献
13.
Peplowski PN Evans LG Hauck SA McCoy TJ Boynton WV Gillis-Davis JJ Ebel DS Goldsten JO Hamara DK Lawrence DJ McNutt RL Nittler LR Solomon SC Rhodes EA Sprague AL Starr RD Stockstill-Cahill KR 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,333(6051):1850-1852
The MESSENGER Gamma-Ray Spectrometer measured the average surface abundances of the radioactive elements potassium (K, 1150 ± 220 parts per million), thorium (Th, 220 ± 60 parts per billion), and uranium (U, 90 ± 20 parts per billion) in Mercury's northern hemisphere. The abundance of the moderately volatile element K, relative to Th and U, is inconsistent with physical models for the formation of Mercury requiring extreme heating of the planet or its precursor materials, and supports formation from volatile-containing material comparable to chondritic meteorites. Abundances of K, Th, and U indicate that internal heat production has declined substantially since Mercury's formation, consistent with widespread volcanism shortly after the end of late heavy bombardment 3.8 billion years ago and limited, isolated volcanic activity since. 相似文献
14.
McClintock WE Bradley ET Vervack RJ Killen RM Sprague AL Izenberg NR Solomon SC 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2008,321(5885):92-94
During MESSENGER's first Mercury flyby, the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer measured Mercury's exospheric emissions, including those from the antisunward sodium tail, calcium and sodium close to the planet, and hydrogen at high altitudes on the dayside. Spatial variations indicate that multiple source and loss processes generate and maintain the exosphere. Energetic processes connected to the solar wind and magnetospheric interaction with the planet likely played an important role in determining the distributions of exospheric species during the flyby. 相似文献
15.
Nittler LR Starr RD Weider SZ McCoy TJ Boynton WV Ebel DS Ernst CM Evans LG Goldsten JO Hamara DK Lawrence DJ McNutt RL Schlemm CE Solomon SC Sprague AL 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,333(6051):1847-1850
X-ray fluorescence spectra obtained by the MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury indicate that the planet's surface differs in composition from those of other terrestrial planets. Relatively high Mg/Si and low Al/Si and Ca/Si ratios rule out a lunarlike feldspar-rich crust. The sulfur abundance is at least 10 times higher than that of the silicate portion of Earth or the Moon, and this observation, together with a low surface Fe abundance, supports the view that Mercury formed from highly reduced precursor materials, perhaps akin to enstatite chondrite meteorites or anhydrous cometary dust particles. Low Fe and Ti abundances do not support the proposal that opaque oxides of these elements contribute substantially to Mercury's low and variable surface reflectance. 相似文献
16.
Anderson BJ Johnson CL Korth H Purucker ME Winslow RM Slavin JA Solomon SC McNutt RL Raines JM Zurbuchen TH 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,333(6051):1859-1862
Magnetometer data acquired by the MESSENGER spacecraft in orbit about Mercury permit the separation of internal and external magnetic field contributions. The global planetary field is represented as a southward-directed, spin-aligned, offset dipole centered on the spin axis. Positions where the cylindrical radial magnetic field component vanishes were used to map the magnetic equator and reveal an offset of 484 ± 11 kilometers northward of the geographic equator. The magnetic axis is tilted by less than 3° from the rotation axis. A magnetopause and tail-current model was defined by using 332 magnetopause crossing locations. Residuals of the net external and offset-dipole fields from observations north of 30°N yield a best-fit planetary moment of 195 ± 10 nanotesla-R(M)(3), where R(M) is Mercury's mean radius. 相似文献
17.
Soter SL 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1966,153(3740):1112-1113
An infrared observation of the dark side of Mercury made by Pettit and Nicholson in 1923 led them to suggest that the planet rotates nonsynchronously. Their early measurements, if taken at face value, would imply a brightness temperature of about 180 degrees K for the dark side. The asymmetry of the infrared phase curve is further interpreted as suggesting direct rotation. 相似文献
18.
Ness NF Behannon KW Lepping RP Whang YC Schatten KH 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1974,185(4146):151-160
Results are presented from a preliminary analysis of data obtained near Mercury on 29 March 1974 by the NASA-GSFC magnetic field experiment on Mariner 10. Rather unexpectedly, a very well-developed, detached bow shock wave, which develops as the super-Alfvénic solar wind interacts with the planet, has been observed. In addition, a magnetosphere-like region, with maximum field strength of 98 gammas at closest approach (704 kilometers altitude), has been observed, contained within boundaries similar to the terrestrial magnetopause. The obstacle deflecting the solar wind flow is global in size, but the origin of the enhanced magnetic field has not yet been uniquely established. The field may be intrinsic to the planet and distorted by interaction with the solar wind. It may also be associated with a complex induction process whereby the planetary interior-atmosphere-ionosphere interacts with the solar wind flow to generate the observed field by a dynamo action. The complete body of data favors the preliminary conclusion that Mercury has an intrinsic magnetic field. If this is correct, it represents a major scientific discovery in planetary magnetism and will have considerable impact on studies of the origin of the solar system. 相似文献
19.
The first unambiguous full-disk radar mapping of Mercury at 3.5-centimeter wavelength, with the Goldstone 70-meter antenna transmitting and 26 antennas of the Very Large Array receiving, has provided evidence for the presence of polar ice. The radar experiments, conducted on 8 and 23 August 1991, were designed to image the half of Mercury not photographed by Mariner 10. The orbital geometry allowed viewing beyond the north pole of Mercury; a highly reflective region was clearly visible on the north pole during both experiments. This polar region has areas in which the circular polarization ratio (pt) was 1.0 to 1.4; values < approximately 0.1 are typical for terrestrial planets. Such high values of have hitherto been observed in radar observations only from icy regions of Mars and icy outer planet satellites. 相似文献
20.
Smith DE Zuber MT Phillips RJ Solomon SC Hauck SA Lemoine FG Mazarico E Neumann GA Peale SJ Margot JL Johnson CL Torrence MH Perry ME Rowlands DD Goossens S Head JW Taylor AH 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2012,336(6078):214-217
Radio tracking of the MESSENGER spacecraft has provided a model of Mercury's gravity field. In the northern hemisphere, several large gravity anomalies, including candidate mass concentrations (mascons), exceed 100 milli-Galileos (mgal). Mercury's northern hemisphere crust is thicker at low latitudes and thinner in the polar region and shows evidence for thinning beneath some impact basins. The low-degree gravity field, combined with planetary spin parameters, yields the moment of inertia C/MR(2) = 0.353 ± 0.017, where M and R are Mercury's mass and radius, and a ratio of the moment of inertia of Mercury's solid outer shell to that of the planet of C(m)/C = 0.452 ± 0.035. A model for Mercury's radial density distribution consistent with these results includes a solid silicate crust and mantle overlying a solid iron-sulfide layer and an iron-rich liquid outer core and perhaps a solid inner core. 相似文献