Astronomers quantify chromium on Mercury using data from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, yet it is also the least understood. Mercury has gotten far less attention from the space scientific community as compared to planets such as Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. 

This odd planet features some of the most enduring mysteries, for instance, scientists aren’t sure where Mercury came from. How did its metallic core get so dense and big? Or how does this small planet, so near to the Sun, sustain even a thin atmosphere? 

NASA’s MESSENGER probe, which orbited the planet from 2011 to 2015, collected data on its chemical composition, geology, and…