The planet Mercury turned into a comet before the eyes of the shocked inhabitants of Earth

German astronomer Sebastian Vollmer captured a stunning photograph of the planet Mercury from his country house. And we see something in it that looks like a comet or a meteor, because there is a luxurious tail. But this is not a comet, it is the atmosphere-free planet Mercury, which is the closest celestial body to the sun.

And while finding Mercury in the sky is a very difficult task, because the planet is so close to the dazzling sun that its orbit around it takes just over two months. Therefore, Mercury is always hiding in its flaming rays. Experienced amateur astronomers search for it with the help of telescopes in the daytime sky, but they take a great risk because one wrong move can cause the telescope to meet the sun. You can lose your sight at this moment.

But on these spring days, there is a rare chance to spot Mercury as a very bright star, even with the naked eye. Just after sunset the planet looms over the western horizon, shooting ominous red rays against the still bright sky.

The physics of this phenomenon is still mysterious, but scientists began to explain it, saying that Mercury is very close to the sun and has no atmosphere. And the temperature on the planet's surface reaches 430 degrees Celsius. The solar wind, streams of charged particles emitted from our star, bombards the rocks and craters of Mercury, kicking sodium atoms out of its soil as the sodium glows an intense yellow. He ascends to the heights of Mercury, where he is thrown by the same solar wind. As a result, the bright sodium, like a comet's tail, extends to a distance of 25 million kilometres. This is the phenomenon depicted by the German Voltmer.

Most likely, if you spot Mercury with your eyes, you won't notice the tail. But the German astronomer used a trick, and took a photograph through a filter that only passed sodium light, which allowed him to reduce the brightness of the evening sky and show the tail.

SpaceX announces its intention to attempt a Super Heavy rocket test again on April 20

SpaceX, owned by American businessman Elon Musk, announced Thursday, April 20, a new date for trying to test a super-heavy rocket.

The company wrote on its Twitter account: "The teams set Thursday, April 20, as the date for the first test of the Starship vehicle and the Super Heavy missile."

It is reported that the spacecraft was scheduled to depart on its first test flight from the launch pad in Texas on Monday, to reach Earth's orbit, and then fall into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.

The first stage of the Super Heavy launch vehicle was supposed to fall into the Gulf of Mexico shortly after launch, but the test was canceled for technical reasons.

Shortly before the launch, SpaceX owner Elon Musk tweeted that one of the ship's engine pressure valves was not working, and this could cause the launch to be canceled, which happened a few minutes before launch.

Earlier, at least seven tests of different vehicles ended with the ship or booster exploding.