The BepiColombo spacecraft has sent back some incredibly detailed images of Mercury’s north pole. The snapshots were collected during its closest ever flyby of our solar system’s smallest planet. You can check out the awe-inspiring images below.

The photos were released by the European Space Agency (ESA) as part of BepiColombo, a mission in partnership with Japan to send a spacecraft to Mercury. This latest round of photos comes via the spacecraft's sixth flyby of the solar system's smallest planet, taking it less than 300km above Mercury's surface.

A spacecraft has beamed back some of the best close-up photos yet of Mercury’s north pole. The European and Japanese robotic explorer swooped as close as 183 miles (295 kilometers) above Mercury's night side before passing directly over the planet's north pole.