NASA discovers Mercury is 'under steady siege' from meteor showers

NASA discovers Mercury is 'under steady siege' from meteor showers
(Image credit: Twitter)

NASA's Messenger spacecraft has discovered what may be a recurring meteor shower on Mercury.

The spacecraft found a "halo of gases" in Mercury's exosphere, Phys.org reports. Scientists suspect the meteor shower may be associated with the Comet Encke, which also causes several yearly events on Earth.

The Messenger spacecraft observed seasonal calcium surges regularly over a 9-year period, suggesting a periodic meteor shower. The scientists reported that the amount of interplanetary dust on Mercury is abnormally high, and it may have come from a cometary debris field.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

NASA scientists noted that the potential discovery is important because Mercury's environment hasn't been explored to much extent.

Explore More

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.