The planet Mercury has many mysteries of which the new spacecraft MESSENGER hopes to solve, but one of those mysteries is of particular interest to scientists. There are many eccentric features of the small planet closest to the Sun, but one theory suggests that the planet is shrinking. Slowly contracting in on itself [...]

According to one theory, Mercury was created after a giant asteroid collided with an even larger object about 4.5 billion years ago. This collision created the planet now known as Mercury and also shot a large amount of debris into space.
This idea that Mercury was the result of a collision was stemmed from the [...]

The planet Mercury is the first in the Solar System line-up, meaning it is closet to the Sun.  It moves very quickly across the sky and so was named Mercury, which in Roman mythology was the god of commerce, travel, and thievery. 
Mercury is small and rocky and makes its trip around the Sun once every [...]