-
Contents
- Sweet Confusion: Does high fructose corn syrup deserve such a bad rap?
- Closed Thinking: Without scientific competition and open debate, much psychology research goes nowhere
- subscribe
- give a gift
- renew
- RSS Feeds
- email alerts
- Digital Edition
- Podcast
- Past issues
Read articles, including Science News stories written for ages 9-14, on the
SNK website.
-
Contents
- Fuzzy future: Kids may suffer impaired vision from spending too little time outdoors, studies suggest
- Building with moon rocks: Working on the moon with lunar soil and grit could prove easier, more efficient and less costly than using earthly materials
- Major twister hits Oklahoma: Its speed, which largely determines the damage it causes, is still unknown
FOR KIDS: Ice on Mercury
The MESSENGER spacecraft provides evidence for frozen water on the planet closest to the sun
Web edition: December 17, 2012
Enlarge
This image of Mercury’s north pole region shows areas in shadow (red) according to new MESSENGER data and the location of bright spots (yellow) that are likely exposed ice deposits.
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Arecibo Observatory
Bright spots on Mercury have long tantalized astronomers: They suspected the shiny patches were swatches of ice. In November, that old idea received new support from a spacecraft that’s been watching the tiny planet.
Fresh data from the satellite offer the best evidence yet that frozen water lies exposed in dark craters near the north and south poles of the sun’s nearest neighbor. Even more ice might lie hidden just beneath Mercury’s surface.
Visit the new Science News for Kids
Citations
T. Lewis. First rock from the sun turns out to have ice. Science News Online, November 30, 2012. [Go to]
Follow Us
features
Please alert Science News to any inappropriate posts by clicking the REPORT SPAM link within the post. Comments will be reviewed before posting.
You must register with Science News to add a comment. To log-in click here. To register as a new user, follow this link.