polar ice on Mercury

  • Mercury’s Extreme Daytime Heat May Help It Make Its Polar Ice
    Mercury’s Extreme Daytime Heat May Help It Make Its Polar Ice0

    In 2011, NASA’s MESSENGER orbiter detected signals typical of glacial ice near the poles on Mercury. The ice was dingy and lurked in permanent shadows in numerous polar craters. According to new research led by Georgia Institute of Technology researchers, the extreme heat on Mercury, where daytime temperatures reach 400 degrees Celsius (750 degrees Fahrenheit), helps make some of that ice.