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Mars and Phobos. Computer artwork of how Mars (left) and its tiny moon Phobos (upper centre) might appear from a distance of about 100 miles from the surface of Phobos. Phobos is the larger of Mars' two satellites (the other being Deimos), being about 16 miles long and about 11 miles across at its smallest dimension. It may be an asteroid long ago captured by Mars' gravity and does not have enough mass for gravity to pull it into a uniform sphere like the larger satellites and planets in the Solar System.

Space

Why we must investigate Phobos, the solar system's strangest object

Mars's moon Phobos is so strange that no one knows how it formed. But a forthcoming mission could solve this mystery - and a host of other puzzles connected to the solar system's deep past

Features

Space

Most detailed survey of particles around the sun reveals new mysteries

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Health

Scratching an itch could help boost your immune defences

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Environment

Farms can install vertical solar panels without reducing crop yields

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Space

How to see all the solar system’s planets in the night sky at once

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Environment

Reliance on wind and solar does expose nations to energy price spikes

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The physicist on a mission to understand Mercury's epic solar storms

Space

The physicist on a mission to understand Mercury's epic solar storms

Features

n 2025 BepiColombo image1 Top three images from BepiColombo's sixth Mercury flyby 09/01/2025 619 views 4 likes ESA / Science & Exploration / Space Science / BepiColombo On 8 January 2025, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission flew past Mercury for the sixth time, successfully completing the final ?gravity assist manoeuvre? needed to steer it into orbit around the planet in late 2026. The spacecraft flew just a few hundred kilometres above the planet's north pole. Close-up images expose possibly icy craters whose floors are in permanent shadow, and the vast sunlit northern plains. At 06:59 CET, BepiColombo flew just 295 km above Mercury's surface on the planet's cold, dark night side. Around seven minutes later, it passed directly over the Mercury's north pole before getting clear views of the planet's sunlit north. European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher revealed the first image during his Annual Press Briefing on 9 January. As during BepiColombo's previous flybys, the spacecraft's monitoring cameras (M-CAMs) did not disappoint. This flyby also marks the last time that the mission's M-CAMs get up-close views of Mercury, as the spacecraft module they are attached to will separate from the mission's two orbiters ? ESA?s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA?s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter ? before they enter orbit around Mercury in late 2026. Celebrating the M-CAMs' final hurrah, let's explore the best three images from BepiColombo's sixth close encounter with the little planet, and what they reveal about mysterious Mercury.

Space

BepiColombo snaps Mercury's dark craters and volcanic plains

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Health

'Killer' cells explain differences in immunity between the sexes

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Health

A little bit of fear can bring down levels of inflammation in the body

Feeling scared seems to reduce elevated levels of inflammation, which may help explain why some people enjoy a haunted attraction

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Health

Older people may have better immunity against bird flu virus

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Space

Our only visit to Uranus came at an unusual time for the planet

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Space

Distant dwarf planet Makemake might have a surprising ice volcano

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Space

A supernova may have cleaned up our solar system

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