Amatuer Astromoner Spots Mercury's Tail Via NASA STEREO Observatory

A team from Boston University originally spotted the 1.6 million mile comet like tail trailing the planet Mercury from the University of Texas McDonald Observatory in West Texas in 2008.

The recent observation from the STEREO data came from an Australian amatuer astronomer Dr. Ian Musgrave. He found this at the Stereo Online Database that many of us here at ATS use frequently. So keep your eyes peeled, you just might become famous.

Article

Here is the compiled movie of the Stereo Images:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5a81e7e8d50b.gif[/atsimg]

Here Is the 2008 image from McDonald Observatory:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/43bf38cfbccf.jpg[/atsimg]

NASA MESSENGER Image of Mercury:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6c27996330e6.jpg[/atsimg]

Great post mate.. just love anything about space man... nice gif too.

reply to post by DuceizBack
Thanks for posting. I thought it was pretty cool myself. Yesterday I did not know Mercury had a tail, imagine what we'll know tomorrow....

I wonder if it is that mysterious force that is cause the force push on the pioneers? Maybe it could of been that same force that pushed mercury aside. Possible planet X??????????

reply to post by dragnet53
I don't think Planet X has anything to do with it. I think there might be another conclusion.

From a 2008 article:

New measurements of Mercury's yellow-orange tail, which streams in the solar wind like the long tail of a kite, put it at more than 100 times the radius of the planet itself.

The neutral sodium atoms that make up the 2.5 million kilometre-long streamer are thought to be blasted off the surface by the sun and micro-meteor impacts. These impart enough energy to launch the atoms into space.

Other elements are also in the tail. But it's the sodium that lights up and can be detected.

source

Star and Flag this is nice, especially since one [primarily me] doesn't hear a lot about Mercury. That gif is also pretty interesting as well