Previous photogeology estimates of how much Mercury shrunk after formation are revised from a pipsqueak 0.8 to 3 km, to a massive 7 km shrinkfest. Pretty cool that we can figure out shrinkage-rates from planet-wide fault patterns!
Read more on Mercury’s time-dependent size the BBC, or hit up the source article on Nature Geoscience. For more Mercury-goodness, remember you can explore the planet using MESSENGER data in Google Earth!
Thanks to Sparrowgrass & Pitchblende for the tip. Image credit NASA & the MESSENGER mission.
https://observationdeck.kinja.com/1545101415
https://observationdeck.kinja.com/mercury-is-shrinking-1545144607
