Nasa Messenger Mission

Monday's transit was the first since Nasa's Messenger mission to Mercury, which orbited the planet from 2011 to 2015.

NASA's MESSENGER mission has unveiled the first global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury, revealing in stunning detail the topography across the entire innermost planet.

The Messenger probe was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury, and issued a final farewell on Twitter before its demise on Thursday.

Its mission was initially only supposed to last one year, but scientists managed to extended its life to four years.

NASA engineers have lifted the orbit of the Mercury probe - currently operating on an extended mission and almost out of fuel - and delayed its inevitable impact into Mercury's surface by up to a month.

After the final manoeuvres, the probe will succumb to the force of the Sun's gravity and spiral down to its doom on Mercury.

Monday's transit was the first since Nasa's Messenger mission to Mercury, which orbited the planet from 2011 to 2015.

NASA's MESSENGER mission has unveiled the first global digital elevation model (DEM) of Mercury, revealing in stunning detail the topography across the entire innermost planet.

The Messenger probe was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury, and issued a final farewell on Twitter before its demise on Thursday.

Its mission was initially only supposed to last one year, but scientists managed to extended its life to four years.

NASA engineers have lifted the orbit of the Mercury probe - currently operating on an extended mission and almost out of fuel - and delayed its inevitable impact into Mercury's surface by up to a month.

After the final manoeuvres, the probe will succumb to the force of the Sun's gravity and spiral down to its doom on Mercury.