Physics
Scientific paper
Apr 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002rpph...65..529b&link_type=abstract
Reports on Progress in Physics, Volume 65, Issue 4, pp. 529-560 (2002).
Physics
12
Scientific paper
The planet closest to the Sun, Mercury, is the subject of renewed attention among planetary scientists, as two major space missions will visit it within the next decade. These will be the first to return to Mercury, after the flybys by NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft in 1974-5. The difficulties of observing this planet from the Earth make such missions necessary for further progress in understanding its origin, evolution and present state. This review provides an overview of what is known about Mercury and what are the major outstanding issues. Mercury's orbital and rotation periods are in a unique 2:3 resonance; an analysis of the orbital dynamics of Mercury is presented here, as well as Mercury's special role in testing theories of gravitation. These derivations provide a good insight into the complexities of planetary motion in general, and how, in the case of Mercury, its proximity to the Sun can be described and exploited in terms of general relativity. Mercury's surface, superficially similar to that of the Moon, presents intriguing differences, representing a different, and more complex history in which the role of early volcanism remains to be clarified and understood. Mercury's interior presents the most important puzzles: it has the highest uncompressed density among the terrestrial planets, implying a very large, mostly iron core. This does not appear to be the completely solidified yet, as Mariner 10 found a planetary magnetic field that is probably generated by an internal dynamo, in a liquid outer layer of the large iron core. The current state of the core, once established, will provide a constraint for its evolution from the time of the planet's formation. Mercury's environment is highly variable. There is only a tenuous exosphere around Mercury; its source is not well understood, although there are competing models for its formation and dynamics. The planetary magnetic field appears to be strong enough to form a magnetosphere around the planet, through its interaction with the solar wind. This magnetosphere may have similarities with that of the Earth, but is more likely to be dominated by global dynamics that could make it collapse at least at the time of large solar outbursts. The future understanding of the planet will now await the arrival of the new space missions. The review concludes with a brief description of these missions.
Balogh André
Giampieri Giacomo
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