Mercury Has a Radiation Belt After All—But It’s Super Wonky Mercury has long been an enigma among astronomers due to its eccentric orbit and peculiar magnetic field.
A new study published in Nature Astronomy confirms that Mercury indeed has a radiation belt, but one that's far from stable.
Unlike other planets like Earth and Jupiter, which have robust magnetospheres that shield them from solar radiation, Mercury's is relatively weak, about 1% the strength of our own.