The surface of Mercury is heavily cratered due to impacts from meteorites. It also has lines of cliffs which are up to 3 kilometres (km) high and 500 km long. These escarpments may have been formed by the planet's crust wrinkling as the core cooled and contracted billions of years ago. The surface rocks are generally dark and a poor reflector of sunlight. Mercury has about the density as Earth, though it has only about 5% of the volume and mass of our planet.
RFID:Image ID:HEXDBE
Image details
Contributor:
Science Photo Library / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
HEXDBEFile size:
50 MB (615.2 KB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
5115 x 3417 px | 43.3 x 28.9 cm | 17.1 x 11.4 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
17 December 2016Photographer:
MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY