Scientists, using data from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft, believe that Mercury’s unique features, like its dark surface and dense core, are linked to its carbon-rich past. Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, may be hiding a surprising secret: a 10-mile-thick diamond layer beneath its surface.
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In its early history, Mercury likely had a magma ocean rich in carbon. As this ocean cooled, it formed patches of graphite on the surface, giving the planet its dark hue. Beneath the surface, however, a diamond-rich mantle may have formed, replacing earlier assumptions that it was made of graphite.
Olivier Namur, a professor at KU Leuven, explained that Mercury’s high pressure and carbon-rich environment likely caused diamonds to form between the planet’s core and mantle.
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NASA’s MESSENGER mission, launched in 2004 and ending in 2015, was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. It mapped the planet, discovered water ice in polar shadows, and provided important data about its geology and magnetic field.
-Agencies/SPACE
