Ice found at planet’s poles

ISTANBUL-Hürriyet Daily News

Fresh Evidence has emerged that indicates the existence of water on Mercury. Despite the planet’s blistering surface temperatures of more than 400 degrees, a Nasa satellite has discovered so-called “cold traps” at the planet’s poles, areas that live permanently in shadow, Huffingtonpost reported yesterday.
According to data from the space agency’s Messenger probe, radar signals are reflected from the “cold traps”, a characteristic indicative of ice.

Messenger, launched in 2004, is only on the second probe to map the sun-scorched planet, performing several flybys since 2008.

According to Dr Nancy Chabot of Johns Hopkins University, the Messenger images “show that all the radar-bright features near Mercury’s south pole are located in areas of permanent shadow.