As NASA's Messenger spacecraft spiralled to its doom on the surface of Mercury, it sent back a final cache of data which may have solved the mystery of the planet's dark hue.
The planet is one of the darkest major objects in the Solar System with a carbon-covered surface - but how the carbon got there has puzzled astronomers.
After a decade in space and rapidly running out of fuel, Messenger carried out some final tests in 2014 before plummeting into Mercury's surface.
The data collected has now led scientists to believe that Mercury's dark crust was once molten magma that was buried by volcanoes and other impacts.
Then, over time, the dark carbon was exposed as asteroids repeatedly struck the planet, creating Mercury's graphite skin.
The data was gathered using a neutron spectrometer and X-ray devices, before being sent back to Earth.
Then it was analysed by researchers from the Johns Hopkins University's applied physics laboratory, and the Carnegie Institution for Science.
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