5 Nov 2009

Mercury richer in iron, NASA probe reveals

10:29 am on 5 November 2009

Mercury is even more of an "iron planet" than scientists had previously thought.

Richer concentrations of iron and titanium have been seen on Mercury's surface by NASA's Messenger probe, the BBC reports.

Previous Earth and spacecraft-based observations had detected only very low amounts of iron in the silicate minerals covering the innermost world.

Because of its immense density, scientists have already assumed much of Mercury's interior contains iron.