PIA11407: Comparing Mercury's Exosphere between Two Flybys


Comparing Mercury’s Exosphere between Two Flybys

Caption:

This figure shows a comparison of images of the sodium emission in the tail region of Mercury during MESSENGER's first and second Mercury flybys. The sodium emission was less symmetric during flyby 1 (see PIA11076 ), with a larger region of emission in the north relative to the south, in contrast to the pattern of sodium emission observed during flyby 2 (see PIA11402 ). During the orbital phase of the mission, the MASCS instrument will regularly measure emissions from atoms and molecules. Mapping the distributions of species on a daily basis, in conjunction with the information provided by the other instruments on MESSENGER, will constrain the processes that generate and maintain the exosphere as well as provide information on the composition of the surface from which the exospheric species originate.

Date Acquired: January 14 and October 6, 2008
Instrument: Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS)

Background Info:

These images are from MESSENGER, a NASA Discovery mission to conduct the first orbital study of the innermost planet, Mercury. For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy .

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mercury
System
Target Type Planet
Mission MESSENGER
Instrument Host MESSENGER
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS)
Detector
Extra Keywords Atmosphere, Color
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2008-10-30
Date in Caption 2008-10-06
Image Credit NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11407
Identifier PIA11407