What is Mercury made of?
The center of Mercury is made of iron in partly-molten (liquid) form. We know that it is iron at the center because the planet generates a magnetic field. It contains more iron for its size than any other planet in the Solar System. The rest of Mercury, its thick crust, is made of a special type of rock called silicate rocks. There are craters near the poles that are constantly in shadow. Some of these craters contain ice. There is a huge crater on Mercury called Caloris Basin. It was formed when a comet hit the planet and lava or molten rock filled the impact crater. The round wall of this crater is over 2km tall.
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