EPISODE · Nov 2, 2018 · 45 MIN
21: BepiColombo goes to Mercury
from syzygy · host Chris Stewart
SYZYGY LIVE! Join us for a very special live podcast recording at the University of York’s YorNight 2018: https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/yornight/2018/Want to help us make Syzygy even better? Tell your friends and give us a review, or show your support on Patreon: patreon.com/syzygypodSyzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.Visit us at syzygy.fm or find us on Twitter: @syzygypodThings we talk about in this episode:SYZYGY LIVE! Podcast recording at YorNight 2018 https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/yornight/2018/NASA’s Mercury page: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/overview/NASA’s Messenger Mission: https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-s-messenger-spacecraft-10-years-in-spaceBepiColombo’s going to Mercury: http://sci.esa.int/bepicolombo/59288-bepicolombo-s-journey-to-mercury/JAXA, Japan’s space agency: http://global.jaxa.jpGiuseppe “Bepi” Colombo: https://www.esa.int/About_Us/Welcome_to_ESA/ESA_history/Giuseppe_Bepi_Colombo_Grandfather_of_the_fly-byESA’s video showing BepiColombo’s journey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yp-q1wqgigAnimation of Mercury’s 3:2 orbital resonance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUde7LFOlPsTidal Locking: https://www.universetoday.com/123391/what-is-tidal-locking/Ice on Mercury: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/water-ice-on-mercury/Colour maps of Mercury: https://www.universetoday.com/102901/messengers-unique-view-a-colorful-spinning-planet-mercury/The solar wind: https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/SolarWind.shtmlThe Great Observatories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Observatories_program
What this episode covers
Mercury: closest planet to the Sun, a small, uninteresting lump of rock ... or, an enigma, with a strange tidally-locked orbit, a core that's way too big, and a mysterious origin story that astronomers are slowly piecing together. Which is why it's Emily's favourite planet, and why ESA and JAXA are sending the fabulously-named BepiColombo spacecraft to take a closer look.
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21: BepiColombo goes to Mercury
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