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X-ray Auroras in Mercury
July 25 , 2023
490 days
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- The Bepi Colombo spacecraft made its first close flyby near the burning-hot planet on October 1, 2021.
- The spacecraft approached Mercury from the night side of the northern hemisphere and made a close approach in the morning side of the southern hemisphere.
- Using the observations made by the spacecraft, scientists discovered that electrons from the Sun raining down on the surface of the planet generates X-ray auroras on Mercury.
- Mercury has a very thin atmosphere, meaning that a lot of electrons from solar wind crash onto the surface.
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