Nature Astronomy · 27 July 2026 · From issue 12
Mercury has its own belt of trapped, energetic electrons that can survive for days.
Jiutong Zhao, Ryan M. Dewey et al., Dynamic electron radiation belt at Mercury controlled by solar wind driving, Nature Astronomy.
Mercury has a hidden belt of fast moving, energetic electrons trapped around it, much like Earth's radiation belts. Scientists debated for decades whether this belt was real, since one old spacecraft saw hints of it but a later mission could not confirm it. New analysis of that later mission's data, combined with computer simulations, now shows the belt is real. It stays steady for days when the sun is calm, but falls apart quickly when the sun sends out strong bursts of charged particles.
Shows Mercury can host a radiation belt despite its magnetic field being much weaker than Earth's.
Based on old spacecraft data and simulations, not a new direct mission.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 17 August 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Nature Astronomy). Read the source
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