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One of the planets of the solar system ages and decreases

 
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Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
 
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24 March 2017, 09:00

Experts representing the famous space agency NASA, found that one of the planets of the solar system decreases in size, and on its surface there are cracks and creases.

Such a planet is Mercury - most closely located to the sun's light, it revolves around it for 88 terrestrial days.

Astronomers made the most complicated calculations, which made it possible to establish that in some four billion years the diameter of the planet will decrease by about 7 kilometers. This phenomenon has its own explanation: Mercury is just getting old.

The daily period on planet Mercury is equal to 96 earthly hours. Scientists relatively little know about it, because because of extreme closeness to the Sun, it is very difficult to observe this object. At the same time on the surface of Mercury there is always an increased level of radiation, often massive coronary outbreaks are recorded.

Can the planet disappear completely? Over this at the moment, space researchers are working.

One of the signs of the aging of the planet is the absence of an atmosphere around it. The gradual loss of the atmosphere is a dissipation process, the dissipation of gases into outer space. The atmosphere at Mercury exists, but it is too thin - so much that it, in fact, is not: its volume is about 10 15 less than the dense atmospheric layers that are available on Earth.

Several versions of the reasons for Mercury's absence of an atmosphere are known. First, this planet has a low density, so it can not hold a large amount of atmosphere around itself. Secondly, Mercury is located very close to the solar light, which leads to the fact that the solar winds "sweep away" most of the atmosphere. Thirdly, this is the aging of the planet already mentioned above.

Also, some scientists explain the small amount and sparseness of the atmosphere in that extreme extreme temperature changes are recorded on Mercury. The lowest temperature is -180 ° C from the shady side of the planet, and the highest is about + 430 ° C, respectively, from the sunny side.

The agency of News News informs that many scientists predict the gradual death of Mercury.

It's interesting that last year astronomy specialists of the same American agency NASA deciphered photos from the destroyed Messenger probe. Thanks to the information received, the researchers concluded that on the surface of Mercury there are clear signs of tectonic processes, which arose relatively recently.

The probe Messenger scientists were sent to a space journey in the distant 1975. Four decades later, the apparatus collapsed after striking the surface of the planet Mercury. However, specialists were able to extract and decipher the information that the space aggregate managed to capture.

At the moment, NASA astronomers are doing everything necessary to determine which processes on the surface of the planet are being discussed, and what Mercury is waiting for in the future.

trusted-source[1], [2], [3]

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