‘Great valley’ found on Mercury indicates shrinking of planet

‘Great valley’ found on Mercury indicates shrinking of planet
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Highlights

Scientists used images from NASA\'s MESSENGER spacecraft to create a high-resolution topographic map that revealed the broad valley -- more than 1,000 kilometres long -- extending into the Rembrandt basin, one of the largest and youngest impact basins on Mercury. 

Washington : Washington (IANS) Scientists have discovered a "great valley" in the southern hemisphere of Mercury, providing more evidence that the small planet closest to the sun is shrinking.

Scientists used images from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft to create a high-resolution topographic map that revealed the broad valley -- more than 1,000 kilometres long -- extending into the Rembrandt basin, one of the largest and youngest impact basins on Mercury.

About 400 kilometres wide and three kilometres deep, Mercury's great valley is smaller than Mars' Valles Marineris, but larger than North America's Grand Canyon and wider and deeper than the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, said the study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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