51��

Skip to content

Environment

2024 confirmed as first year to breach 1.5°C warming limit

51��s warn efforts to limit the long-term temperature rise to 1.5°C will fail as data confirms 2024 was the hottest year in human history

51��

Earth

Oil extraction may have triggered over 100 earthquakes in the UK

51��

Health

How worried should we be about a bird flu pandemic?

51��

Earth

La Niña is finally here but it won't stay for long

51��

Health

Your ears and nose are made from tissue that looks like bubble wrap

51��

The skull of a Smilodon, which were made up of saber-toothed cats

Life

Why sabre-toothed animals evolved again and again

51��

Space

Keeping space tidy should become a global UN goal, say researchers

51��

Mathematics

Maths quirk explains why crosswords are so hard – until they aren't

51��

GM7DEY Mother Disposing Of Baby Nappy In Bin

Health

Parents stop finding diapers disgusting once babies are eating solids

51��

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

The BepiColombo spacecraft is due to start orbiting Mercury next year, but a recent flyby has captured breathtaking images of its pockmarked surface

51��

Technology

Quantum computers get automatic error correction for the first time

51��

Earth

California wildfires fuelled by months of unusual extreme weather

51��

Space

SpaceX: Starship to launch fake satellites on seventh test flight

51��

Life

Giant tracks show how dinosaurs roamed the UK millions of years ago

51��