A big thing is to sprain a hell of Mercury

Mercury has harsh. Not only the smallest planet in the solar system, it is closest to our sun. This unfortunate position caused the development of Mercury Rifts and fractures across their surfaceAnd found a new study.

Mercury is dry, rugged, and with a large hole. The planet looks distorted with high slopes and hills, as well as fracture lines that work along its surface. The origin of Mercury’s scars has always been a mystery: How did the planet cool down and contract an extraordinary way for billions of years after it was formed? It turns out, the answer may be because of it An uncomfortable proximity to the sun. A team of researchers from the University of Bern created material models for mercury to find out how much the tidal forces affect the small planet, and revealed that the star may have affected the development and tectonic trends on its surface over long periods of time. Detailed results in a Ticket Posted in Geophysical Research Magazine: Planets.

The planets are formed from the molten material that left the birth of the star. Over time, these things cool down and their internal materials are shrinking, causing them to contract, such as their rules of wrinkles and turmoil. Evidence has shown that mercury, on the other hand, not only reduced – the surface also turned sideways. Crafts and fractures were also formed in the rock shell. Scientists have assumed that the process that formed the outer layer of mercury was the result of this cooling and contracting, but the study indicates that it may be the orbit of the comfortable planet around the sun.

Mercury contains one of the most unique orbits in the solar system. It takes about 88 days of Earth to complete one orbit around the sun, during which the planet revolves around its axis three times every two orbits. Its orbit is extremely elliptical and is about 7 degrees compared to the orbital plane, the eccentric means that mercury experiences from the tide are very different. “These tropics create stresses that may leave a mark on the surface of the planet,” said Lillian Burkard, a researcher at the Department of Space and Playing Sciences at the Bern University Institute, the main author of the study. “We can see tectonic patterns on mercury that indicate that more than just cooling and universal contraction.”

The team behind the study sought to investigate how the tidal forces contribute to the formation of mercury cellar. They have used the physical models of mercury over the past four billion years to calculate how the tidal forces in the sun might affect their surface tensions. The results showed that the changing gravity of the sun has affected the Mercury Tech features over time.

“The stress of the tidal has been overlooked so far, as it was very small so that it did not play an important role,” said Burkhard. “Our results have shown that although the size of these pressures is not enough to generate cracking alone, the direction of blood -induced shear pressure is consistent with the trends allocated to the sliding patterns on the surface of mercury.”

Modern results can also be applied to other planets, which shows how microscopic forces besides tectonic to affect their surface. “Understanding how a planet, like mercury abnormalities, helps us understand how planetary bodies develop over billions of years,” according to Burkard.

Scientists are hoping for the new study to collect more clues on the deformed Mercury surface through the BEPICOLOMBO task, which It was launched in October 2018 As a joint venture between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Space Explorement Agency (Jaxa). BEPICOLOMBO is only the third spacecraft that visits mercury; It is difficult to reach the planet far -fly due to the strong sun’s gravity that may have distorted the surface of the planet.