Messenger space craft gets close to Mercury
The Messenger space craft gets 142 miles from Mercury. It left earth a few years ago, but orbited around earth first, then Venus and finally has charted a path onto Mercury. But they can’t get too close since Mercury is super hot. The Indian space craft Chandrayaan 1 has confirmed the presence of water on the moon, but don’t get your swim trunks out yet, since these are small particles distributed in the soil. Also, a sight rarely seen, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto all in the evening sky this week.
Listen:[audio: st20090928.mp3]
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Skytalk is hosted by WHYY's Dave Heller. Each week he discusses the latest news in astronomy with Dr. Derrick H. Pitts of the Franklin Institute.
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