The European and Japanese robotic explorer swooped as close as 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury’s night side before passing directly over the planet’s north pole. The European Space ...

Craters at Mercury's north pole are visible just left of the "terminator," or the line between day and night. The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission snapped this image on January 8, 2025. ESA ...

The European and Japanese robotic explorer swooped as close as 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury's night side before passing directly over the planet's north pole. The European Space Agency ...

Flying over the "terminator"—the boundary between day and night—the spacecraft gained a rare opportunity to peer directly into the permanently shadowed craters at the planet's north pole.

A spacecraft has beamed back some of the best close-up photos yet of Mercury's north pole. The European and Japanese robotic explorer swooped as close as 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury's ...

It passed the planet’s night side, which faces out into space and away from the sun, then over its north pole before swinging over to see its north hemisphere in the sunlight. The images were ...