New photos show the volcanic plains of Mercury after a spacecraft fly-by

A spacecraft skimmed past Mercury this week, beaming back stunning new images of the surface and showing once again that humankind has a seemingly insatiable longing to understand the universe.

3 things to know:

1. The BepiColombo spacecraft flew less than 200 miles from Mercury’s surface and photographed volcanic plains and icy craters.
2. It’s the sixth time the spacecraft — launched in 2018 by the European Space Agency [ESA] — has done a fly-by.
3. The ESA said in a statement this was the final “gravity assist manoeuvre” needed to allow the two orbiters to separate, get into orbit around the planet in late 2026, and capture even more information.

Listen to NPR’s Short Wave podcast for more discoveries, everyday mysteries and the science behind the headlines.

Is Mercury important to us Earthlings?

Yes! There’s so much we still don’t know about the smallest, somewhat mysterious member of our solar system closest to the sun.

What we do know is that Mercury has an unusual composition. Like Earth, it has a metal core. But Mercury’s metal core takes up 80% of the planet.

As NPR’s Joe Palca reports, one of the most intriguing things about Mercury is that despite the blistering temperatures on the sunny parts of the planet — temperatures can reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit — there are places in craters near the poles that never see the sun.

I feel like I’m hearing a lot about space these days

Well, you know, there’s a lot of cool stuff going on.

Just recently there has been news of a pair of satellites creating artificial solar eclipses to study the sun; scientists preparing to receive signals from spacecraft after a historic close encounter with the sun; and an intrepid mission to retrieve rocks from the surface of Mars.

And this Sunday, a massive new rocket developed by Blue Origin — the private space firm founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos — is expected to launch (although it’s been delayed before, so don’t hold your breath).

For the rest of 2025, there will be supermoons, meteor showers and other exciting celestial events to look out for, which will all be conveniently compiled in one place for sky gazers everywhere.

Go deeper with NPR on space and science:

• You can follow all of NPR’s space coverage, including this examination of space junk and why the International Space Station was forced to dodge debris.
• Want to nerd out on more science? Sign up for the NPR Science team’s health newsletter, which has everything you need on the science of healthy living.