Smallest Planet Mercury is Shrinking, Getting Wrinkles!

Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system is still shrinking and getting more wrinkles as it shrinks, reveals a recent planetary research.

Mercury has been shrinking for billions of years. According to studies, Mercury’s radius has decreased by around 7km.

A new study, published in Nature Geoscience, indicates that Mercury is still shrinking.

Study author Benjamin Man, UK’s Open University (OU) research student, undertook a global survey of mercury using data from US space agency NASA’s Messenger mission (2011-2015) and found small, fresh landforms called grabens.”

Mercury, like any other planet, is losing heat, and as its internal rock and molten metal have gotten cooler, its inside has shrunk. Because of this, wrinkles have appeared on the planet’s surface – formations are known as “scraps”.

Researchers used these scraps to prove that the planet has shrunk even more. The scraps are still moving today, this is proved by grabens, which are small, shallow landforms that appear after scraps move about.