The NASA MESSENGER probe flew by Mercury for the second time on October 6th. It flew by Mercury earlier this year, will fly by one more time in 2009, and will enter orbit around the planet in 2011.

Here’s an image taken yesterday:

Some parts of Mercury’s surface revealed in this have never been photographed in detail before. One type of feature that stands out are the rays, composed of ejecta from impact craters.

Mercury is the least-well known of the terrestrial planets. We know considerably more about the moons of Jupiter and Saturn than we do about Mercury.

Source: NASA MESSENGER home page.

Grace and Peace