Mercury’s Difference Explained

It has been long recognized that Mercury is strangely different than its nearest neighbors, Venus and the Earth, and now computational astronomy offers an explanation. Scientists from Bern, Switzerland developed computer simulations that modeled possibilities surrounding a massive collision between the young Mercury and an asteroid some 4.5 billion years ago. The amount of material lost by Mercury due to such a collision and its effects would explain the unusually small size and high density of the Sun’s closest planet.. Look for the Swiss team to offer their findings to peers at a Royal Astronomical Society meeting in Leicester, England. More information on this study can be found in Adrianne Appel’s National Gergraphic News article.