article_snippet: Researchers have uncovered the mystery of Mercury's 'stealth' colour scheme.
article_snippet: The say a steady dusting of carbon from passing comets has slowly painted Mercury black over billions of years.
article_snippet: The solves the mystery of Mercury's unusual colouring - which has baffled scientists.
article_snippet: The say a steady dusting of carbon from passing comets has slowly painted Mercury with a dark 'stealth' coating over billions of years.
article_snippet: It's long been hypothesized that there's a mystery darkening agent that's contributing to Mercury's low reflectance,' said Megan Bruck Syal, a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who performed this research while a graduate student at Brown University. '
article_snippet: On average, Mercury is much darker than Mercury closest airless neighbour, our Moon.
article_snippet: And an invisible paint has been building up on Mercury's surface for billions of years. '
article_snippet: this appears that Mercury may well be a painted planet.'
highlights_snippet: Dusting of carbon from passing comets has made Mercury darker .
  
highlights_snippet: Has given Mercury an almost black appearance .