Research suggests Mercury continues to shrink

Mercury’s radius may have decreased by as much as 7km, models and observations indicate. The contracting of the planet has produced lobate scarps, which are long, tectonic structures on its surface.

A new study supports the continued shrinking of Mercury (Picture: Nasa/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)

New research strongly suggests that the planet Mercury is continuing to shrink.

The smallest planet in the solar system began to contract at least three billion years ago, and experts suggest it is likely that the rate of contraction has been decreasing since then.