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Dark Planet
Featured on October 10, 2015
Mercury, the Sun's innermost planet, is one of the darkest major bodies in the solar system. It reflects less than 10 percent of the sunlight that strikes its surface. A recent study suggests that passing comets could coat Mercury with carbon-rich molecules, darkening the surface. This 2015 image of Mercury from the Messenger spacecraft features a wide, deep basin known as Rembrandt. [NASA/JHUAPL/CIW]
