. Energy News .




MERCURY RISING
Active Plume Observed At Mercury
by Staff Writers
Laurel MD (SPX) Apr 02, 2013


Scientists will continue to acquire and examine as many images of the eruption as possible. For a larger version of this image please go here.

In a groundbreaking discovery for Mercury science, the MESSENGER spacecraft imaged a plume of material erupting from the surface of the innermost planet. In an MDIS image taken early this morning, a bright source of light may be seen above Mercury's southern hemisphere. Located at approximately 67S, 55E, close to the newly named Alver basin, this light source appears to be an eruptive plume from a previously unrecognized vent.

MESSENGER team members are currently analyzing images of the eruption. One hypothesis under consideration is that the brightness indicates the presence of a "fire fountain," an eruption during which lava is ejected from depth in a jet-like spray of molten rock. There also appears to be a dimmer cloud of material above the central plume.

Under the fire fountain hypothesis, this higher cloud may be composed of smaller droplets of lava of a size that allows them to be blasted to greater altitudes. Most of these droplets will probably fall back to the surface, producing a distinctive "pyroclastic halo" around the vent like those seen elsewhere on Mercury.

An alternative possibility is that the plume is a "geyser" of volatile materials, analogous to the plume at Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Under this scenario, a pocket of volatile-rich material may have been heated by the intrusion of subsurface magma, solar tidal dissipation, or some other process, fueling a geyser-like eruption at the surface. Because of the recent identification of water ice at Mercury's poles, the MESSENGER team is pursuing the idea that water may be involved in the eruption.

Given that possibility and the date of the discovery, the team has already proposed to the International Astronomical Union that the feature be given the name "Poisson d'Avril."

Scientists will continue to acquire and examine as many images of the eruption as possible. The MESSENGER spacecraft has been conducting orbital operations at Mercury for two years, first during its primary mission and then during a year-long extended mission. The MESSENGER team recently submitted a proposal to NASA to extend the mission further by an additional two years of orbital operations.

"One of the objectives of our second extended mission is to seek evidence of recent geological activity, but never did I think we'd see such spectacular evidence this early," enthused MESSENGER Project Scientist Nat MacRulf.

MESSENGER Project Manager Ellen Hinter agreed. "An earlier design of the spacecraft included the Joint Analyzer for Plume Eruptions instrument, intended to collect samples of any plumes active during orbital operations. That instrument was not included in the final design because of mass limitations, but our plasma and energetic particle spectrometers should nonetheless have a field day."

.


Related Links
MESSENGER
News Flash at Mercury
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

Get Our Free Newsletters
Space - Defense - Environment - Energy - Solar - Nuclear

...







MERCURY RISING
MESSENGER Completes Its First Extended Mission at Mercury
Laurel MD (SPX) Mar 20, 2013
On March 17, 2013, MESSENGER successfully completed its year-long first extended mission in orbit about Mercury, building on the groundbreaking scientific results from its earlier primary mission. Now the team is poised to embark on a second extended mission that promises to provide new observations of Mercury's surface and interior at unprecedented spatial resolution and of the planet's d ... read more


MERCURY RISING
Philippine clean energy tariffs to start next year: govt

IMF urges countries to cut energy subsidies

IMF calls for energy subsidy reform

EU launches debate on 2030 targets

MERCURY RISING
Hess completes sale of Caspian assets

Wastewater injection spurred biggest earthquake yet

Trojan Battery Introduces Single-Point Watering System For Its Flooded Batteries

Simulations uncover obstacle to harnessing laser-driven fusion

MERCURY RISING
Using fluctuating wind power

France publishes 1GW offshore wind tenders

Davey lauds, warns Scotland on renewables

Uruguay deal boosts S. America wind power

MERCURY RISING
sun2live rooftop project by The meeco Group in Lahore

Trees Used to Create Recyclable, Efficient Solar Cell

New Type of Solar Structure Cools Buildings in Full Sunlight

China warns on EU solar probe

MERCURY RISING
Westinghouse Springfields Completes First French Fuel Delivery

1 dead, 3 injured in Arkansas nuclear site accident

Google reveals views of Japan's nuclear ghost town

Swiss supreme court stays closure of nuclear plant

MERCURY RISING
Making fuel from CO2 in the atmosphere

Regulation recommendations so that biofuel plants don't become weeds

Peach genome offers insights into breeding strategies for biofuels crops

Microalgae could be a profitable source of biodiesel

MERCURY RISING
Shenzhou 10 sent to launch site

China's Next Women Astronauts

Shenzhou 10 - Next Stop: Jiuquan

China's fourth space launch center to be in use in two years

MERCURY RISING
Canada pulls out of UN drought convention

Indian stars call for dry Holi festival amid drought

Earth's Interior Cycles a Contributor to Long-Term Sea-Level and Climate Change

Dinosaur-era climate change study suggests reasons for turtle disappearance




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement