Mercury, sulfur-rich deposits

The finding of the Messenger spacecraft raises questions about how the planet formed closer to the Sun

 

It is believed that volcanoes would have given a large amount of sulfur (Foto: NASA )
Friday June 17, 2011 La Nación/ GDA | El Universal

21:20

The Messenger spacecraft, which began a few weeks ago to orbit Mercury, sent information revealing that the surface of the planet closest to the Sun has rich deposits of sulfur, which casts doubt on how the scientists actually formed.
The announcement took place yesterday the NASA in a statement. Since May, the MESSENGER spacecraft is sending photos with a quality never before obtained.

Until now, astronomers thought that the planet Mercury, have formed in the hot and dense part of the nebula that created the solar system, had not had temperatures suitable for light materials such as sulfur.
According to astronomers, the volcanoes appear to have played an important role in the formation of this planet it would have provided new material to fill its surface full of craters.
It is believed that these same volcanoes would have given a lot of sulfur, implying that Mercury would be different from those building blocks of planets such as Venus, Earth or Mars.
The research team Sean Solomon Messenger said now the history of Mercury 'does not seem as simple' as they thought.
According to NASA, also found evidence of an asymmetric magnetic field and regular bursts of electrons that pass through the magnetosphere.