Mercury

Mercury Facts

Mean distance from Sun: 0.3871 AU (57,910,000 km/35,980,000 mi)

Length of Year: 88 days

Rotation period: 58.65 days

Mean orbital velocity: 48 km/s (30 mi/s)

Inclination of axis: 2

Average temperature: 800 F (427 C) day

-300 F (-183 C) night

Diameter: 4,878 km (3,031 mi)

Number of observed satellites: 0

Magnetic field weak

 Historical

Mercury is one of the five planets known to the

ancients. They called these planets "wandering stars".
Mercury may be seen as an evening "star" near where
the sun has set, or as a morning "star" near where the
sun will rise.
The ancient Greeks called the evening star Hermes and
the morning star Apollo, believing them to be different
objects.
The planet is named for Mercury, the Roman
messenger of the gods.
Mercury is not much bigger
than our Moon. Of the nine
planets orbiting the Sun, only
Pluto is smaller.

It is so close to the Sun that

it can be seen only in the
twilight sky of the Earth.

The hazy atmosphere near the

horizon on Earth spoils the view
of Mercury for ground-based
telescopes.
Earth-based telescopic photo of Mercury taken from
Catalina Observatory 1.5 meter (61 inch) telescope.
 Mercury Orbital Facts
Until 1965, scientists thought that the same side of Mercury always faced
the Sun.

Mercury takes only 88

Earth days to complete
one orbit, but it rotates
slowly about its own
axis, only once every 59
Earth days.

This means that it

rotates precisely three
times for every two
orbits, known as a 3:2
orbital resonance.
 More Orbital Facts
It orbits the Sun in a highly elliptical orbit at about one third of the Sun-Earth
distance. Only the orbit of Pluto, the outermost planet, is more elliptical.

At perihelion (closest approach to the Sun), it is only 46 million kilometers from

the Sun, but at aphelion (furthest approach) it is 70 million kilometers away.

The axis of rotation is almost perpendicular to the orbital plane,

so Mercury does not have opposite seasons in each
hemisphere, as Earth has.

Instead, the temperature at the equator varies as the planet's

distance from the Sun changes during its elliptical orbit.

The maximum temperature is 700K (427oC), but the minimum

only 90K (-183oC). Mercury has very little atmosphere so the
surface cools down rapidly on the night side.
Image of May 7, 2003 Mercury Transit was taken by NASA/ESA's SOHO (Solar & Heliospheric Observatory)
Transit of Mercury on
November 8,2006. Sunspot
#923, which is just below the
equator at the left-hand side, is
much bigger than Mercury is.
Two more sunspots at the right-
hand side at the equator.
Mercury appears as a small
black dot in the lower middle of
the solar disk.
Next transit: May 9, 2016
 Mariner 10
3 Flybys 1974-1975
Mariner 10 was the seventh successful
launch in the Mariner spacecraft series, and
the first to use the gravitational pull of one
planet (Venus) to reach another (Mercury).

Instruments on board the spacecraft were designed to measure the

atmospheric, surface, and physical characteristics of Mercury and Venus.

Experiments included television photography, magnetic field, plasma, infrared

radiometry, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and radio science detectors. An
experimental X-band, high-frequency transmitter was flown for the first time on
the spacecraft.

10,000 pictures with 57% planet coverage reveal an intensely cratered, Moon-
like surface and a faint atmosphere of mostly helium, resulting from solar wind
bombardment.
Incoming View of
Mercury
This photomosaic of
Mercury was
constructed from
photos taken by
Mariner 10 six hours
before the spacecraft
flew past the planet on
March 29, 1974. These
images were taken
from a distance of
5,380,000 kilometers
(3,340,000 miles).
Close
Encounter
This two-image
mosaic of Mercury
was constructed
from photos taken
by Mariner a few
hours before the
spacecraft's
closest and first
encounter with the
planet on March
29, 1974.
Outgoing View
of Mercury
This mosaic of
Mercury was created
from more than 140
images taken by the
Mariner 10
spacecraft on March
29, 1974. The
images were
acquired after the
spacecraft exited
Mercury's shadow.
 Mercurys Atmosphere
Like the Earths Moon, Mercury has a very volatile atmosphere. What
little atmosphere exists is made up of atoms or ions blasted off its
surface by the solar wind and has less than a million-billionths the
pressure of Earth's atmosphere at sea level. It is composed chiefly of
oxygen, sodium, and helium.

Mercury's extreme surface temperature enhances the escape of these

volatile atoms into space.

With no atmosphere or hydrosphere, there has been no erosion from

wind or water.

Mercury may have water ice at its north and south poles. The ice exists
inside deep craters. The floors of these craters remain in perpetual
shadow, so the Sun cannot melt the ice.

Meteorites do not burn up due to friction as they do in other planetary

atmospheres.
Mercurys Surface
Highly cratered with smooth
terrains.

Relatively ancient, volcanic

surface.

Similar to Earths Moon, but

fewer craters and more
plains.

Geologically longer active

than Moon?

Plains mostly lava or impact

ejecta?
Caloris Basin Largest structure on
Mercury ~1300 km

Asteroid-size impactor
early in solar system
history

Basin contains smooth

plains but is highly
ridged and fractured.
Antipodal from Caloris "Weird terrain, hilly,
lineated region.

The shock wave

produced by the Caloris
impact was reflected
and focused to this
antipodal point, thus
jumbling the crust and
breaking it into a series
of complex blocks.

The area covered is

about 100 kilometers
(62 miles) on a side.
Discovery Rupes
Sinuous feature may be a
thrust fault.

This feature and many

similar ones on Mercury
suggest compressional
forces and 1-2 km radial
shrinkage planet-wide.
200 km
Cooling, contraction od
Mercury at end of
volcanically active early
history?
Messenger Discovery Mission

MErcury Surface, Space

ENvironment, GEochemistry,
and Ranging mission.

MESSENGER will enter

Mercury orbit in March 2011
and carry out comprehensive
measurements for one Earth
year.

$286 million total mission

cost
Figure 2. MESSENGER mission timeline featuring major trajectory adjustments (DSM dates may change)
Science Payload
 Messenger Science Drivers:

What planetary formation processes led to the high

metal/silicate ratio in Mercury?
What is the geological history of Mercury?
What is the nature and origin of Mercury's magnetic field?
What is the structure and state of Mercury's core?
What are the radar-reflective materials at Mercury's poles?
What are the important volatile species and their sources
and sinks on and near Mercury?
MESSENGERs WAC multi-spectral
images to study compositional
variations across the surface of
Mercury. The white arrows identify
areas of Mercurys surface that are
interpreted to be relatively young
volcanic plains, and the black arrows
point to reddish areas interpreted to be
volcanoes. Most of the color
differences studied here are believed to
indicate variations in the mineral
composition and physical state of the
rocks at different places on Mercury.
 Capturing Mercury
through MESSENGER's
Dual Cameras

Date Acquired: September 29, 2009

Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 162709161,
162709202
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) and Wide Angle
Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System
(MDIS)
Resolution: Top WAC image: 24.5 kilometers/pixel (15.2
miles/pixel). Bottom NAC image: 3.5 kilometers/pixel (2.2
miles/pixel).
Scale: Mercury's diameter is 4880 kilometers (3030 miles)
Spacecraft Altitude: 137,000 kilometers (85,000 miles)
 Rupes, Rupes, Every
Where

Giant scarps (cliffs), called

rupes, are believed to have
formed when Mercurys
interior cooled and the entire
planet shrank slightly as a
result. This figure, recently
published in Science magazine,
shows one of these scarps
(white arrows) that is about 270
kilometers (170 miles) long.
Date Acquired: September 29, 2009
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 162744001
Instrument: Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Resolution: 410 meters/pixel (0.25 miles/pixel) in the lower right corner of this image
Scale: This image is about 420 kilometers (260 miles) across
Spacecraft Altitude: 16,200 kilometers (10,100 miles)
 BepiColumbo

ESA-ISAS Mission to
Mercury

Planned launch ~2014,

1 Lander and 2 Orbiters

The mission is named in honor of

Giuseppe (Bepi) Columbo, an Italian
scientist who explained Mercury's
unusual rotation (three turns for every
two trips around the Sun). He also
suggested to NASA the way to make
multiple fly-bys of Mercury during the
Mariner 10 mission.