PDS logoPlanetary Data System
PDS Information
Find a Node - Use these links to navigate to any of the 8 publicly accessible PDS Nodes.

This bar indicates that you are within the PDS enterprise which includes 6 science discipline nodes and 2 support nodes which are overseen by the Project Management Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Each node is led by an expert in the subject discipline, supported by an advisory group of other practitioners of that discipline, and subject to selection and approval under a regular NASA Research Announcement.
Click here to return to the Photojournal Home Page Click here to view a list of Photojournal Image Galleries Photojournal_inner_header
Latest Images  |  Spacecraft & Technology  |  Animations  |  Space Images App  |  Feedback  |  Photojournal Search  

PIA14852: Mercury's High-Potassium Diet
Mercury's High-Potassium Diet
 Target Name:  Mercury
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  MESSENGER 
 Spacecraft:  MESSENGER
 Instrument:  Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS) 
 Product Size:  5333 x 3000 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Johns Hopkins University/APL 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA14852.tif (48 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA14852.jpg (646.7 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

The abundance of potassium (K) and thorium (Th) on the surface of Mercury as measured by the MESSENGER Gamma-Ray Spectrometer. These values are compared to similar measurements of the K and Th content of Venus, Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Because K is a volatile element and Th a refractory one, this ratio is a sensitive measure of thermal processes that fractionate elements by volatility. For example, the ratio for the Moon (360) is much lower than that for Earth (3000), reflecting volatile loss during the Moon's formation by a giant impact. The ratio for Mercury is comparable to that of the other terrestrial planets, indicating that Mercury is not highly depleted in volatile elements, ruling out some models for its formation and early history. This finding is supported by the identification of sulfur on the surface by the MESSENGER X-Ray Spectrometer.

Date Presented: September 29, 2011, at a NASA Press Briefing
Instrument: Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS)

These images are from MESSENGER, a NASA Discovery mission to conduct the first orbital study of the innermost planet, Mercury. For information regarding the use of images, see the MESSENGER image use policy.

Image Credit:
Courtesy AAAS/Science

Image Addition Date:
2011-09-29