Official News - page 8

REAL LIFE NEWS: MERCURY TRANSIT TELLS SCIENTISTS ABOUT ITS ATMOSPHERE

by Hazed

On Wednesday, Mercury passed between the Earth and the Sun. This transit gave astronomers a rare opportunity study the planet's atmosphere. Yes, Mercury does have one, but it's very thin and tenuous.

By studying the sunlight as it is filtered through the atmosphere, and comparing the data to the known spectral signature of the Sun, astronomers should be able to figure out what Mercury's atmosphere is composed of. They think it's mostly sodium but this will prove whether they are right or wrong.

The fact that Mercury has an atmosphere at all was only discovered in 1985.

You can read more about the Mercury transit, and watch a movie of its progress across the face of the sun, on the BBC news web site. There's also an amazing picture on the Astronomy Pic of the Day website.

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