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Other elements observed in Mercury's extremely tenuous atmosphere (which exerts a pressure one million billionths that of Earth) include sodium, potassium and oxygen. When these gases are ionized by solar radiation, they are lost to the atmosphere through the interaction of the planet's magnetic field with the solar wind.
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www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mercury/Atmosphere/atmo...
www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mercury/Atmosphere/atmosphere.html&edu=high
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Atmosphere of Mercury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mercury's primordial atmosphere dissipated shortly after the planet's formation because of both the low level of gravity on the planet, the high temperature, and the effects of the solar wind. However...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Mercury
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Spectroscopic measurements of sodium in Mercury's atmosphere are shown above. High abundance of Na is red, low abundance blue. The dotted line aroung the planet represents the "seeing disk". Spectrograph slit measurements have been interpolated to portray an "image".
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www.lpl.arizona.edu/planatmos/mercstds.html
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Mercury has an extremely thin atmosphere which is made up of atoms blasted off its surface by the solar wind, a constant stream of particles coming from the outer layer of the sun. Because Mercury is so hot, ... Unlike the stable atmospheres of Earth and Venus, Mercury's atmosphere is constantly being replenished.
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coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/mercury...
coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/mercury_atmosphere.shtml
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Until the last part of the 20th century, Mercury was one of the least-understood planets, and even now the shortage of information about it leaves many basic questions unsettled. ... The atmosphere...
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www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/375811/Mercury
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/375811/Mercury
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What are the constituents of Mercury's tenuous atmosphere (exosphere)? ... Mercury has no stable atmosphere; the gaseous environment of the planet is best described as an exosphere, a medium so rarefied that the neutral atoms of its constituents never collide. Five elements - oxygen, hydrogen, neon, sodium and potassium -
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www.sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjecti...
www.sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=31275
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Sodium found in Mercury's atmosphere from Science News provided by Find Articles at BNET ... The relative abundance of sodium in Mercury's atmosphere invites comparison with Jupiter's satellite Io, which also has a lot of sodium. In Io's case sodium appears to be sputtered off the satellite's surface by energetic particles...
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findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_v128/ai_3898126
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New University of Washington research suggests mercury can be carried long distances in the atmosphere, combining with other airborne chemicals to form compounds that are much more water-soluble and so more easily removed from the air in rainfall. ... "By the time mercury gets to the top of the food chain, it can increase by...
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www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051207180433.htm
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Analysis of data obtained by the ultraviolet experiment on Mariner 10 indicates that Mercury is surrounded by a thin atmosphere consisting in part of helium. The partial pressure of helium at the terminator is about 5 x 10-12 millibar.
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www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/185/4146/166
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