MERCURY

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. It’s just a little bigger than
Earth’s moon. It is the closest planet to the sun, but it’s actually not the
hottest. Venus is hotter.
Along with Venus, Earth, and Mars, Mercury is one of the rocky planets. It
has a solid surface that is covered with craters. It has a thin atmosphere,
and it doesn’t have any moons. Mercury likes to keep things simple.
This small planet spins around slowly compared to Earth, so one day lasts a
long time. Mercury takes 59 Earth days to make one full rotation. A year on
Mercury goes by fast. Because it’s the closest planet to the sun, it doesn’t
take very long to go all the way around. It completes one revolution around
the sun in just 88 Earth days. If you lived on Mercury, you’d have a birthday
every three months.
A day on Mercury is not like a day here on Earth. For us, the sun rises and
sets each and every day. Because Mercury has a slow spin and short year,
it takes a long time for the sun to rise and set there. Mercury only has one
sunrise every 180 Earth days! Isn't that weird?
Structure and Surface

 Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system.

 Mercury is a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky.
 Mercury has a thin atmosphere.
Time on Mercury

 A day on Mercury lasts 59 Earth days.

 A year on Mercury lasts 88 Earth days.
Mercury’s Neighbors

 Mercury does not have any moons.

 Mercury is the closest planet to the sun.
 Venus is Mercury’s neighboring planet.
Quick History

 Mercury has been known since ancient times because it can be seen
without advanced telescopes.
 Mercury has been visited by two spacecraft: Mariner 10 and
MESSENGER.
What does Mercury look like?

Here you can see that Mercury is a light grey color.

This is Mercury's northern horizon as seen by the MESSENGER spacecraft

during its third flyby.
The big, star-shaped crater towards the bottom of the globe is named
Debussy.

This picture of Mercury has colors added so you can better see the surface
differences and craters.
 MERCURY PLANET PROFILE
Diameter: 4,879 km

Mass: 3.29 × 10^23 kg (0.06 Earths)

Moons: None
Orbit Distance: 57,909,227 km (0.39 AU)

Orbit Period: 88 days

Surface Temperature: -173 to 427°C

First Record: 14th century BC

Recorded By: Assyrian astronomers

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and due to its proximity it is not
easily seen except during twilight. For every two orbits of the Sun, Mercury
completes three rotations about its axis and up until 1965 it was thought that
the same side of Mercury constantly faced the Sun. Thirteen times a century
Mercury can be observed from the Earth passing across the face of the Sun
in an event called a transit, the next will occur on the 9th May 2016.

Mercury Diagrams

Facts about Mercury

 Mercury does not have any moons or rings.
 Mercury is the smallest planet.
 Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
 Your weight on Mercury would be 38% of your weight on Earth.
 A day on the surface of Mercury lasts 176 Earth days.
 A year on Mercury takes 88 Earth days.
 It’s not known who discovered Mercury.

 A year on Mercury is just 88 days long.

One solar day (the time from noon to noon on the planet’s surface) on
Mercury lasts the equivalent of 176 Earth days while the sidereal day (the
time for 1 rotation in relation to a fixed point) lasts59 Earth days. Mercury is
nearly tidally locked to the Sun and over time this has slowed the rotation of
the planet to almost match its orbit around the Sun. Mercury also has the
highest orbital eccentricity of all the planets with its distance from the Sun
ranging from 46 to 70 million km.
 Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System.
One of five planets visible with the naked eye a, Mercury is just 4,879
Kilometers across its equator, compared with 12,742 Kilometers for the
Earth.
 Mercury is the second densest planet.
Even though the planet is small, Mercury is very dense. Each cubic
centimeter has a density of 5.4 grams, with only the Earth having a higher
density. This is largely due to Mercury being composed mainly of heavy
metals and rock.
 Mercury has wrinkles.
As the iron core of the planet cooled and contracted, the surface of the
planet became wrinkled. Scientist have named these wrinkles, Lobate
Scarps. These Scarps can be up to a mile high and hundreds of miles long.
 Mercury has a molten core.
In recent years scientists from NASA have come to believe the solid iron
core of Mercury could in fact be molten. Normally the core of smaller planets
cools rapidly, but after extensive research, the results were not in line with
those expected from a solid core. Scientists now believe the core to contain
a lighter element such as Sulphur, which would lower the melting
temperature of the core material. It is estimated Mercury’s core makes up
42% of its volume, while the Earth’s core makes up 17%.
 Mercury is only the second hottest planet.
Despite being further from the Sun, Venus experiences higher
temperatures. The surface of Mercury which faces the Sun sees
temperatures of up to 427°C, whilst on the alternate side this can be as low
as -173°C. This is due to the planet having no atmosphere to help regulate
the temperature.
 Mercury is the most cratered planet in the Solar System.
Unlike many other planets which “self-heal” through natural geological
processes, the surface of Mercury is covered in craters. These are caused
by numerous encounters with asteroids and comets. Most Mercurian craters
are named after famous writers and artists. Any crater larger than 250
kilometers in diameter is referred to as a Basin. The Caloris Basin is the
largest impact crater on Mercury covering approximately 1,550 km in
diameter and was discovered in 1974 by the Mariner 10 probe.
 Only two spacecraft have ever visited Mercury.
Owing to its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is a difficult planet to visit. During
1974 and 1975 Mariner 10 flew by Mercury three times, during this time they
mapped just under half of the planet’s surface. On August 3rd 2004, the
Messenger probe was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,
this was the first spacecraft to visit since the mid 1970’s.
 Mercury is named for the Roman messenger to the gods.
The exact date of Mercury’s discovery is unknown as it pre-dates its first
historical mention, one of the first mentions being by the Sumerians around
in 3,000 BC.
 Mercury has an atmosphere (sort of).
Mercury has just 38% the gravity of Earth, this is too little to hold on to what
atmosphere it has which is blown away by solar winds. However while
gases escape into space they are constantly being replenished at the same
time by the same solar winds, radioactive decay and dust caused by
micrometeorites.

How hot is Mercury?

Mercury's sun-facing side is scorched by temperatures of around 430°C, hot

enough to melt lead.
Without a substantial atmosphere to distribute heat away from the areas
facing the Sun, the planet's slow rotation makes for stark differences in
temperature between its dark and light sides. The side facing away cools to
an approximate -180°C.
But despite the intense heat the planet faces as it rotates, areas that are
permanently shaded, such as some polar craters, may hold deposits of ice.
Intense changes in temperature from day to night make it impossible for life
as we know it to flourish on Mercury.
Although it is the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury isn't the hottest in the
solar system. Venus's dense atmosphere causes a greenhouse effect,
resulting in higher temperatures.
What is Mercury's atmosphere made of?

Mercury has little atmosphere, but what it does have is made up mostly of
oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium and potassium.
The thin atmosphere, or exosphere, does little to prevent or slow down
impacts from extraterrestrial objects, leaving the surface littered with craters.
In appearance it is similar to Earth's Moon.
The planet is terrestrial, meaning that it has a solid surface and is mainly
made of silicate rocks or metals. The planet Mercury is mainly made up of
iron.
Mercury has no moons. The planet's close proximity to the Sun makes
having moons impossible, as the star's strong gravitational pull would likely
pull them out of the planet's orbit.

Who discovered Mercury?

Mercury is one of the five classical planets visible with the naked eye and is
named after the swift-footed Roman messenger god. It is not known exactly
when the planet was first discovered - although it was first observed through
telescopes in the seventeenth century by astronomers Galileo Galilei and
Thomas Harriot.
Only two spacecraft, both robotic and launched by NASA, have visited
Mercury so far, making it the least explored terrestrial planet. Mariner 10
launched in 1973 and imaged around 45% of the planet's surface from 1974
until its end of mission in March 1975.
MESSENGER was launched in 2008 and entered Mercury's orbit in 2011,
making it the first spacecraft to do so. This mission lasted for four years
before the probe succumbed to the planet's gravity and impacted its surface
in 2015. It collected extensive data and images and transmitted them back
to Earth to be studied by scientists.
BepiColombo is a joint space mission by the European Space
Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), currently
proposed to be launched in 2018, with the aim to reach Mercury in
December 2025.
Why was Mercury named Mercury?
The Romans knew of seven bright objects in the sky: the Sun, the Moon,
and the five brightest planets. They named them after their most important
gods. Because Mercury was the fastest planet as it moved around the Sun,
it was named after the Roman messenger God Mercury. Mercury was also
the god of travelers. According to myth, he had a winged hat and sandals,
so he could fly. According to myth, he had a winged hat and sandals, so he
could fly.
What does Mercury smell like?
What does it look, feel, taste, or smell like?

Mercury is a silvery metal that is liquid at room temperature. It is very dense,

which means that it is very heavy even if you don't have very much of it.

What is inside Mercury planet?

Crust: Mercury has a thick crust that is composed mostly of silicate

rocks. Mercury may have small ice caps at its north and south poles; this ice
stays frozen inside deep craters that are shaded from sunlight. Mantle:
Beneath the crust it is a mantle (also made of silicate rocks) that is
hundreds of kilometers thick.

Why is Mercury cold at night?

It is very hot during the day (over 400°C) because Mercury is so close to the
Sun. At night it is very cold because Mercury loses almost all its heat since
there is almost no atmosphere to keep the warmth there. The temperature
can fall to almost -175°C.
What happens if you touch mercury?
Mercury is a very toxic or poisonous substance that people can be exposed
to in several ways. If it is swallowed, like from a broken thermometer, it
mostly passes through your body and very little is absorbed. If you touch it,
a small amount may pass through your skin, but not usually enough to
harm you.

Can you die from Mercury?

These compounds have been implicated in causing brain and liver damage.
The most dangerous mercury compound, dimethyl mercury, is so toxic that
even a few microliters spilled on the skin, or even on a latex
glove, can cause death.

Reference:
https://www.space.com › 36-mercury-the-suns-closest-planetary-neighbor

https://space-facts.com › mercury

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/planet-mercury.html