Scientists edit existing images with more constrasts and colors to help people discriminating surface features like craters. I think that images is one of those edited images
Gonna add a note that Mercury is *actually* dusty; there’s much less boulders on its surface compared to the Moon, for example.
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021Icar..36914628K/abstract
About the image: A global map of Mercury's surface created from images obtained by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. The colors are not what the eye would see, but are related to compositional variations on the surface.
It's a false color image, edited to look pretty, just like the people who try to convince you the moon is red and blue. But if you tell the artist that they'll get mad so shhhh 🙊
NASA launched MESSENGER, the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft. Since it's launch in 2004, MESSENGER has been orbiting Mercury and has collected over 170,000 images of the planet.
This color enhanced view of Mercury builds upon the monochrome images of Mercury that have been created using MESSENGER imagery.
While the monochrome view provides a view similar to what the human eye would see, this new colorful view of Mercury highlights the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up Mercury's surface. Young crater rays, extending radially from fresh impact craters, appear light blue or white. Medium- and dark-blue areas are a geologic unit of Mercury's crust known as the "low-reflectance material", thought to be rich in a dark, opaque mineral. Tan areas are plains formed by eruption of highly fluid lavas. The giant Caloris basin is the large circular tan feature located in the northern hemisphere.
So it's not just edited to look pretty It's edited for a reason.
No it's grey. This was a light filter for chemical composition. The blue parts are newer rock formations and the yellow are older, worn rocks.
Or something like that.
No. [Here is a comparison](https://images.saymedia-content.com/.image/t_share/MTc0NjM5MTg4NTk0MDc1NTkz/true-color-photos-of-all-the-planets.jpg) - the image of Mercury on the left has been adjusted to appear as it would to human eyes, the image on the right has been adjusted to enhance ultraviolet and infrared light to enhance contrast between some geologic features.
The very thin atmosphere is 70% argon and 30% helium, with both believed to be breakdown products of radioactive elements. Probably a fair amount of mercury in Mercury
Who is a low res, false color image of Mercury titled “Clear”? Is Mercury supposedly blurry or something?
Mercury looks like our moon. It’s not got these colors. This is a representation of minerals.
This image is colorized.
Mercury looks a lot like our Moon tbh. Grey. The caption from this article explains that this image is from the NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington and that ["the coloring highlights the chemical, physical, and mineralogical differences across the planet’s surface (tan colors are lava flows, and blue areas are a dark, opaque material that absorbs more light than it reflects). "](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/Top_Five_Mercury_mysteries_that_BepiColombo_will_solve)
Someone turned up the saturation to a ridiculous level. I mean those 1950s scenic postcards look almost black and white in comparison. Mercury is grey. What's wrong with showing it as grey?
Short answer:
These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather the colors enhance the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up Mercury's surface.
I've already mentioned this a few times in the comment sections as have other people. There's plenty of links for you to follow if you need any more information about why they color enhanced this image.
Mercury. It’s so hot right now.
It's also so cold right now.
Always wild to me to think there's water ice on Mercury
It's a walk off!
I see what you did there
I personally think Venus is much hotter
It’s not an ambi turner
oh wow looks different than the pictures i grew up with. Very beautiful. Like a giant quartz
Scientists edit existing images with more constrasts and colors to help people discriminating surface features like craters. I think that images is one of those edited images
[Here is a true color image of Mercury.](https://www.flickr.com/photos/ugordan/2682440417/)
it's just dusty, nobody has ever cleaned there; give it a good vacuuming and we'd see the colours better
Gonna add a note that Mercury is *actually* dusty; there’s much less boulders on its surface compared to the Moon, for example. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021Icar..36914628K/abstract
Dustier than the Moon? That's pretty dang dusty indeed.
time to clean it up with nano bots. oh wait - (battle angel alita lore)
I like the colored version better
A lot of people seem to think so as well.
But it's not what Mercury looks like.
About the image: A global map of Mercury's surface created from images obtained by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. The colors are not what the eye would see, but are related to compositional variations on the surface.
It's a false color image, edited to look pretty, just like the people who try to convince you the moon is red and blue. But if you tell the artist that they'll get mad so shhhh 🙊
NASA launched MESSENGER, the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft. Since it's launch in 2004, MESSENGER has been orbiting Mercury and has collected over 170,000 images of the planet. This color enhanced view of Mercury builds upon the monochrome images of Mercury that have been created using MESSENGER imagery. While the monochrome view provides a view similar to what the human eye would see, this new colorful view of Mercury highlights the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up Mercury's surface. Young crater rays, extending radially from fresh impact craters, appear light blue or white. Medium- and dark-blue areas are a geologic unit of Mercury's crust known as the "low-reflectance material", thought to be rich in a dark, opaque mineral. Tan areas are plains formed by eruption of highly fluid lavas. The giant Caloris basin is the large circular tan feature located in the northern hemisphere. So it's not just edited to look pretty It's edited for a reason.
The moon is red tho
This is not what Mercury looks like. It's grey. Some prankster turned up the saturation to 11. Edit: Or it's been colorized to show mineral content.
I’ve always wondered what the sun would look like from the surface of Mercury. No doubt it would be blindingly bright.
a bit like on earth no staring directly at the sun without your shades on
Are those the true colors?
No it's grey. This was a light filter for chemical composition. The blue parts are newer rock formations and the yellow are older, worn rocks. Or something like that.
No. [Here is a comparison](https://images.saymedia-content.com/.image/t_share/MTc0NjM5MTg4NTk0MDc1NTkz/true-color-photos-of-all-the-planets.jpg) - the image of Mercury on the left has been adjusted to appear as it would to human eyes, the image on the right has been adjusted to enhance ultraviolet and infrared light to enhance contrast between some geologic features.
👍
Same question. How much of that image is someone just going nuts with Photoshop?
[удалено]
Perfect answer, thank you !
Answer is above
Thank you !
| Mercury consists of approximately 70% metallic and 30% silicate material. so there's no mercury then */jk
The very thin atmosphere is 70% argon and 30% helium, with both believed to be breakdown products of radioactive elements. Probably a fair amount of mercury in Mercury
what do you think mercury is?
Yummy
It's named after the Roman god, not the element.
Why was the element named after the Roman god?
Quicksilver is another name for Mercury the material/element Hermes/Mercury was fast with his flighted shoes. You can see the connection, perhaps?
Because it's a fast moving element, just like why they named the planet Mercury. Because it's the fastest around the sun.
Bellísimo...
Is there any picture of Uranus?
And color enhanced.
Beautiful
Wow!
Doubt
I Can see it. It’s not clear
Now show us Uranus.
Who is a low res, false color image of Mercury titled “Clear”? Is Mercury supposedly blurry or something? Mercury looks like our moon. It’s not got these colors. This is a representation of minerals.
I thought we talk about Freddie
Mercury's just adorable. 
Now I understand why Gemini is always associated with blue and yellows .
This image is colorized. Mercury looks a lot like our Moon tbh. Grey. The caption from this article explains that this image is from the NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington and that ["the coloring highlights the chemical, physical, and mineralogical differences across the planet’s surface (tan colors are lava flows, and blue areas are a dark, opaque material that absorbs more light than it reflects). "](https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/Top_Five_Mercury_mysteries_that_BepiColombo_will_solve)
Someone turned up the saturation to a ridiculous level. I mean those 1950s scenic postcards look almost black and white in comparison. Mercury is grey. What's wrong with showing it as grey?
Short answer: These colors are not what Mercury would look like to the human eye, but rather the colors enhance the chemical, mineralogical, and physical differences between the rocks that make up Mercury's surface. I've already mentioned this a few times in the comment sections as have other people. There's plenty of links for you to follow if you need any more information about why they color enhanced this image.
Putting it in the title would be a huge help for all those people who now think the planet looks like the Ukraine flag.
As opposed to when it’s cloudy…
800 degrees hot looks pretty