Posted on 04/03/2015 7:41:53 AM PDT by BenLurkin
When NASA's Mariner 10 flew by Mercury three times in the mid-1970s, it spotted what Blewett described as "certain odd, bright patches" within the impact craters. The patches showed up again during MESSENGER's flybys of the planet. It wasn't until 2011, when MESSENGER entered orbit and began to capture higher-resolution images, that the bright areas were revealed as shallow, irregularly shaped depressions on the surface.
Hollows are relatively small landforms — shallow features on the surface that stretch at most 0.6 miles (1 kilometer). This small size implies a relatively young age, as cratering would have eroded them away over time. The hollows do not contain many, if any, impacts within them — another characteristic that suggests that they are fairly young. Finally, the hollows' sharp edges also likely indicate these features were made relatively recently.
"The hollows are remarkable because they have a crisp, fresh appearance," Blewett said. "They are probably younger than a few tens of millions of years, but some hollows are probably forming today. It is amazing to find ongoing geological activity modifying the surface of Mercury."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Mines.
Mercury mines?
“The MESSENGER spacecraft has survived the severe thermal and radiation hazards of the inner solar system, including strong heating by Mercury’s dayside surface and direct impact by coronal mass ejections and other energetic solar events,” he said. “Even though we know that the probe’s days are numbered, MESSENGER has been a reliable source of exciting new information, and its loss will sadden all of us who have followed its successes.”
Engineering at its best.
Gophers.
In Kentucky they call ‘em “hollers”.
Yes, Loretta Lynn was born in one of them. But it would probably be a waste of money to look for any country singers in the Mercury hollers.
That’s where the pool was.
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