Mercury shows its true colours

Scientists working on NASA’s Messenger probe to Mercury have shown off a new colour map of the planet.

It comprises thousands of images acquired by the spacecraft during its first year in orbit.

This is not how we would see Mercury, which would look like a dull, brownish-grey globe to our eyes.

Rather, the map represents an exaggerated view of the planet that is intended to highlight variations in the composition of its rock, the BBC reported.

“Messenger’s camera has filters that go from the blue to the near-infrared of the spectrum, and we are able to use computer processing to enhance the very subtle but real colour differences that are present on Mercury’s surface,” Dr David Blewett from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab said.

“The areas that you see that are orange - those are volcanic plains. There are some areas that are deep blue that are richer in an opaque mineral which is somewhat mysterious - we don’t really know what that is yet.

“And then you see beautiful light-blue streaks across Mercury’s surface. Those are crater rays formed in impacts when fresh, ground-up rock is strewn across the surface of the planet,” the mission scientist said.

The probe has revealed Mercury’s rich volcanic history. It has confirmed the existence of great lava plains, but also uncovered evidence for explosive volcanism.

In addition, the probe’s instruments have detected relatively high abundances of sulphur and potassium in surface materials.