ESA and JAXA release Mercury eyecandy, courtesy of spacecraft BepiColumbo

Fourth of nine scheduled planetary assists completed as spacecraft inches closer to releasing its orbiters The European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) joint mission BepiColombo sent back its first photos of Mercury on Friday as it completed the fourth of nine planetary flybys enroute to study the solar system's smallest and innermost planet.…