SKYLOG.

The article focuses on a closeup imagery of the planet Mercury courtesy of a space probe known by the acronym MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging). The only probe to visit Mercury previously was Mariner 10, which swept past it three times in the 1970s. Launched in August 2004, MESSENGER zipped by Mercury in January as part of an elaborate interplanetary dance. It will settle into orbit around Mercury in March 2011 for at least an Earth year's investigation of the rocky little world's geologic history, the chemical composition of its surface and the size and state of its core The first pictures of a previously unexamined region reveal smooth surfaces suggestive of volcanic lava flows and corrugations formed by the planet's shrinking.