MERCURY

Quick facts about Mercury

Distance from the Sun:

59.9 million km

Mass (Earth =1):

0.055

Density:

5.43g/cm3

Rotational Period:

58.65 days

Equatorial Diameter:

4878 km

# of Satellites:

0

# of Rings:

0

Mercury is the closets planet to the Sun. A day on Mercury is almost as long as our year. This is because it revolves quickly around the sun but rotates very slowly on its axis. Mercury is the second smallest planet in our Solar System.

It may be hard to spot Mercury because on some days it is only visible during twilight hours ( just before the sun comes up, and just before the sun goes down) due to the sun's bright glare. It's surface is heavily cratered from countless meteorites and asteroids crashing into it's surface. Because Mercury orbits so closely to the sun, the sky around it never looks entirely black therefore its surface features don't stand out.

Mercury is an almost airless planet. Its temperature rises above 750 degrees(F) during the day, but can go down to -300 degrees(F) at night. This is due to to the fact that there is no atmosphere on Mercury to trap the heat. Conditions on Mercury are too harsh for anything to live on.

Mercury traces out a more oval-shaped path around the sun compared to any other planet. When orbiting it does so in an upright position. It is not tilted like most planets.

Mercury received its name after the fleet messenger of the Roman gods.

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