The Planet Quiz Show

Mercury’s heavily cratered surface is often confused with the Earth’s moon. In the Planet Quiz Show, students will be shown a picture of Mercury and the moon. As a bonus question, pupils may have to identify which object is Mercury and which one is Earth’s moon.

Bonus Question: So, which half is Mercury and which half is the Moon?

Although, the moon and Mercury have many similarities, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft is bringing into sharper focus some of the differences. In the two photos above, notice the rupes (Latin for cliff) on the right side of the left image and the lower right corner of the right image. The images are part of the same rupes (singular and plural spelling is the same) and are theorized to have formed as Mercury cooled and shrank during the early history of the planet. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington photo...