NASA’s Messenger spacecraft found a frequent meteor shower on Mercury. The spacecraft reveals that recently a periodic meteor shower hit the Mercury.
The “halo of gases” in the exosphere indicates the occurrence of meteor shower. Currently, NASA’s Messenger is closely analyzing the exosphere of the planet.
A few researchers believe that Comet Encke is linked with the meteor shower of Mercury. The particular comet is considered as the originator of numerous annual events on the Earth. Every year several meteor showers such as Germinids, Perseids occur on the Earth. It gives birth to the Southern and Northern Taurids. These meteor shower usually happen in the month of October or November
Meteor shower is an outer space event in which numerous meteors are radiate and originate from a single point. Generally, these meteor showers are named as the constellation from where they begin.
Rosemary Killen, the main author of the research stated that the findings of a meteor shower at Mercury are indeed really thrilling. It is quite momentous as the scientists have not yet analyzed the plasma and dust environment of Mercury.
The proposed trademark of a meteor shower on Mercury is the usual flow of calcium in the exosphere. MESEENGER’s Mercury Atmosphere and Surface Composition Spectrometer captured images that divulge the seasonal surges of calcium. These cyclic gush took place repeatedly on the first nine years of Mercury.
