Description
Sodium tail of Mercury with Pleiades
Now available as
- Print on fine foto paper (20x30cm)
- Digital download for Desktop in low resolution, not suitable for printing
In the close environment near the Sun, Mercury is subject to permanent erosion by the Sun. Sodium and other elements are knocked out of the surface and atomized by impacting particles from the solar wind or micrometeorites. The solar wind rapidly drives the whirled-up particles away from Mercury in a manner similar to a comet. Unlike comets, however, the glow of the resulting “tail” is too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
