Atmosphere of Mercury
Videos
Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, has the weakest magnetic field and the smallest mass of the four terrestrial planets. It has an extremely tenuous and variable exosphere containing hydrogen, he
Mercury's surface, with the atmosphere too thin to be visible.
Mercury's calcium and magnesium tail during MESSENGER's third flyby on September 29, 2009
Mercury's sodium tail during MESSENGER's first flyby on January 14, 2008
Mercury in true color
Atmosphere of the Moon
Videos
The atmosphere of the Moon is a very sparse layer of gases surrounding the Moon, consisting only of an exosphere. For most practical purposes, the Moon is considered to be surrounded by vacuum. The el
Atmosphere of Mercury
…the planet. The existence of an atmosphere on Mercury remained controversial until the 1970s, although by then a consensus had emerged that the planet, like the Moon, lacked a substantial atmosphere. This view was confirmed in 1974 when the Mariner 10 spacecraft detected only a tenuous exosphere. In 2009, the MESSENGER…
Surveyor 7 observes levitating dust, a phenomenon named Lunar horizon glow
The thin lunar atmosphere is visible on the Moon's surface at sunrise and sunset with the lunar horizon glow and lunar twilight rays, like Earth's crepuscular rays. This Apollo 17 sketch depicts the glow and rays among the general zodiacal light.
Full Moon 2010
Chaotic Clouds of Jupiter