Mercury is something I will almost certainly never see in my telescope, so it's good that a big expensive NASA robot is flying around taking fancy pictures of it.
Behold!
What's interesting about this, apart from the "rays" stretching between the poles, is the fact that we've never seen an image like this of Mercury before. The MESSENGER craft is beaming back views of planetary features that have previously been visible only through much less dramatic radar imaging. Pretty cool stuff.
And snow, right? Didn't they see evidence that it had snowed on Mars? This is awesome news because, like most people, I am so over Lake Tahoe vacations. Fire up the shuttle, prep my suit.
Yes, there is snow on Mars, but it was spotted by the Phoenix lander, not the MESSENGER. The MESSENGER is all studying MErcury, while the Phoenix is hanging out on MaPhoenixrs.
Also, I wouldn't get too excited about the Mars vacation, since you'll probably end up at the center of some bizarre conspiracy and get your eyes bulged out of your head at the end.
Isn't it cute how I saw you had written Mercury and read Mars, and did not think to myself, wait a second, isn't Mars red? Yes, cute is the adjective I am sticking to.