New Photos for Mercury Released by ESA, JAXA

Mercury prope of the BepiColombo mission recently captured breathtaking new images of Mercury during a close flyby.

BepiColombo, a joint mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), made its closest approach to Mercury on Monday. 

The prope was away from the planet by 146 miles, which is the closest distance the probe made, allowing it to capture intimate images of the solar system’s small planet.

ESA released three new images that capture BepiColombo approaching the rocky planet.

In this first image, BepiColombo was close to Mercury’s nightside, so the Sun’s rays begin to illuminate the tiny planet. 

The surface topology of the planet is clearly seen, including Mercury’s impact craters. 

A large 135-mile-wide peak-ring impact crater appeared to the right of the spacecraft’s antenna. 

David Rothery, a member of the BepiColombo team, said: “During our image planning for the flyby we realized this large crater would be in view, but it didn’t yet have a name.”