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Hypnotic Mercury
That’s over 1,000 images of the planet Mercury stitched together in a copper-blue disco ball of hypnotic animation. Launched in 2004, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft has been studying the smallest member of the Solar System for nearly two years with phenomenal success.
A single solar day on Mercury takes over 58 Earth days, so this GIF’s rotation would take you nearly two months to see with the naked eye … you know, should you be in space, near Mercury. Check out another shadowy video of a Mercurial day from NASA.
BONUS: Did you know that craters on Mercury are named for authors, artists and musicians? Dr. Seuss and Andy Warhol each have one.
(via Gizmodo, for higher-res GIF check here, and in video form here)
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Hypnotic Mercury

That’s over 1,000 images of the planet Mercury stitched together in a copper-blue disco ball of hypnotic animation. Launched in 2004, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft has been studying the smallest member of the Solar System for nearly two years with phenomenal success.

A single solar day on Mercury takes over 58 Earth days, so this GIF’s rotation would take you nearly two months to see with the naked eye … you know, should you be in space, near Mercury. Check out another shadowy video of a Mercurial day from NASA.

BONUS: Did you know that craters on Mercury are named for authors, artists and musicians? Dr. Seuss and Andy Warhol each have one.

(via Gizmodo, for higher-res GIF check here, and in video form here)

    • #science
    • #space
    • #gif
    • #mercury
    • #nasa
    • #messenger
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I'm Joe Hanson, Ph.D. biologist and host/writer of PBS Digital Studios' It's Okay To Be Smart. Check out my "Episode Extras" here. There's a lot of amazing science out there. Let's go discover it together.

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