{"id":253124,"date":"2023-04-16T11:35:45","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T09:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=253124"},"modified":"2023-04-16T11:38:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-16T09:38:46","slug":"its-back-the-sodium-tail-of-mercury-spaceweather-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=253124","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Back: The Sodium Tail of Mercury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"253126\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=253126\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?fit=1286%2C1920&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1286,1920\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Dr. Sebastian Voltmer&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?fit=686%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?resize=723%2C1079&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-253126\" width=\"723\" height=\"1079\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?resize=686%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 686w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?resize=201%2C300&amp;ssl=1 201w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?resize=768%2C1147&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?resize=1029%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1029w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?resize=1200%2C1792&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?w=1286&amp;ssl=1 1286w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/Spaceweather.com\">Spaceweather.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By <strong>DR.TONY PHILLIPS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>April 12, 2023:<\/strong>&nbsp;Astronomy used to be so simple. Comets had tails, and planets did not. Mercury is making things complicated. When Dr. Sebastian Voltmer of Spicheren, France,&nbsp;photographed the planet this week, it exhibited a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/spaceweathergallery2.com\/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195072\">magnificent plume<\/a>&nbsp;of gas flowing behind it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/spaceweathergallery2.com\/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195057\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spaceweather.com\/images2023\/13apr23\/mercury_april12_strip.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"761\" height=\"956\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMercury is NOT a comet, but it sure looks like one,\u201d says Voltmer. \u201cSolar wind and micro-meteorites hitting the planet eject sodium atoms from Mercury\u2019s surface. This creates a yellow-orange tail of sodium gas that is around 24 million kilometers long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First predicted in the 1980s, Mercury\u2019s tail was discovered in 2001. The gaseous plume is made of many elements from Mercury\u2019s rocky surface, not only sodium. Sodium, however, dominates the scattering of sunlight and gives the tail its striking yellow hue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People watching Mercury climb up&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/spaceweathergallery2.com\/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195068\">the evening sky this month<\/a>&nbsp;may be wondering \u201cwhy didn\u2019t&nbsp;<em>I<\/em>&nbsp;see a tail?\u201d Answer: A special filter is required. \u201cI used a 589 nanometer filter tuned to the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu\/hbase\/quantum\/sodium.html\">yellow glow<\/a>&nbsp;of sodium,\u201d says Voltmer. \u201cWithout such a filter, Mercury\u2019s tail is almost invisible to the naked eye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercury\u2019s tail waxes and wanes in brightness as it orbits the sun. The predictable pattern is shown in this movie from NASA\u2019s MESSENGER spacecraft, which spent years&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/messenger\/media\/seven-things.html\">observing Mercury\u2019s tail<\/a>&nbsp;from close range:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mercury&#039;s Sodium Tail\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/547356001?h=1bc3b5a2dc&amp;dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"700\" height=\"700\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1029\/2007GL032337\">reasons<\/a>&nbsp;having to do with the Doppler shift of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/spaceweather.com\/images2021\/10may21\/dlines.jpg\">sodium absorption lines<\/a>&nbsp;in the solar spectrum, Mercury\u2019s tail is most luminous when the planet is \u00b116 days from perihelion (closest approach to the sun).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This means the tail\u2019s maximum luminosity is only a few days away. Mercury will be 16 days past perihelion on&nbsp;<strong>Monday, April 17th<\/strong>, located in the sunset sky almost directly below Venus. If you have a sodium filter, take a look!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>more images:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/spaceweathergallery2.com\/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195070\">from Nicolae-Adrian Corlaci<\/a>&nbsp;of Bucharest, Romania;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/spaceweathergallery2.com\/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=195069\">from Paul Robinson<\/a>&nbsp;near Memphis, TN<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This story was brought to you by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/spaceweather.com\/\">Spaceweather.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMercury is NOT a comet, but it sure looks like one,\u201d says Voltmer. \u201cSolar wind and micro-meteorites hitting the planet eject sodium atoms from Mercury\u2019s surface. This creates a yellow-orange tail of sodium gas that is around 24 million kilometers long.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":253126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818493,691818494,691818498,691818497,691818496,691818495],"class_list":{"0":"post-253124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-astronomy","9":"tag-comets","10":"tag-mercury","11":"tag-micro-meteorites","12":"tag-solar-wind","13":"tag-tails","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0Dr.-Sebastian-Voltmer-MercuryTail_2023-04-12_SVoltmer_1681353367.jpg?fit=1286%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-13QE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":235178,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=235178","url_meta":{"origin":253124,"position":0},"title":"&#8216;Unexpected&#8217; 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