Hi all-

 Haven't been here for a month or so.  We're gearing up for the MESSENGER flyby of Mercury on Sept 29. You all might be interested in participating in the LIVE Web 2.0 coverage. See: http://bit.ly/3kDn7b

 Should be very cool. 

 

Good evening Dr.Jeff.

Thanks for the link & excellent picture of mercury.Can you tell me if that is Earth about 1 inch to the left of Mercury on the enlarged image? It appears to be a larger star than the others & has a shade of blue to it.

I've been following the Messenger website for sometime & have found it very interesting & informative.Keep up the good work.

Hi Shad!y! Yup it's Earth, but superimposed at its correct position. There is an entire write up on the "Story Behind the Image". If you read the caption right under the image, the hot link is there. Take a read, and please come back here and let me know what you thought! Here again is the link to the page: http://bit.ly/TXrOs -j

Good evening Dr.Jeff.

Thanks for the brilliant pictures and thanks for identifying Earth for me.

With regards to the third picture from the end of Jupiters moon Io.Are those the planets actual colours?

Blues,greens & reds appear to be spread all over the planet.Or has colour enhancement been used  to identify particular aspects?