MERCURY: THE INNERMOST PLANET

This planet was named after the Roman messenger god, Mercury, because of its
fast movements around the Sun. It is the innermost and smallest planet, is hardly larger
than Earth’s Moon and is smaller than three other moons in the solar system. Mercury
revolves quickly but rotates slowly. One full day-night cycle on Earth takes 24 hours, but
on Mercury it requires 59 Earth-days. Thus, a night on Mercury lasts for about three
months and is followed by three months of daylight.

Nighttime temperatures drop as low as -173 degrees Celsius and noontime

temperatures exceed 427 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt tin and lead. Mercury
has the greatest temperature extremes of any planet. The odds of life as we know it
existing on Mercury are nil. Like our own Moon, Mercury absorbs most of the sunlight
that strikes it, reflecting only 6% into space. In contrast, the Earth reflects about 30% of
the light that strikes it, much of it from clouds. The low reflectivity of sunlight from
Mercury is characteristic of terrestrial bodies that have virtually no atmosphere.

Mercury is very dense (5.4 g/cm³), which implies that it contains a large iron core for
its size. Mercury has cratered highlands, much like the Moon, and vast smooth terrains
that resemble maria. Mercury also has long scarps that cut across the plains and
numerous craters. These scarps are thought to be the result of crustal shortening as the
planet cooled and shrank early in its history. The shrinking caused the crust to fracture.

Facts about Mercury

 Closest planet to the Sun
 Smallest planet in the Solar System
 Second warmest next to Venus
 Daytime temperature is 427 degrees Celsius; nighttime temperature reaches
-173 degrees Celsius because of no atmosphere to regulate temperature
 The nuclei of small planets are usually solid. But due to sulfur, Mercury’s core is
liquid.
 Mercury can be seen by the naked eye from Earth.
 In the last 4 million years, Mercury has shrunk its radius around 7 km.
 Mercury takes 59 Earth-days to make one rotation and it makes a complete orbit
around the Sun in just 88 Earth-days.
 It is the most heavily cratered planet in the Solar System due to collisions with
comet and asteroids. The Caloris Crater is the largest, 1.550 km in diameter.
 Mercury has a double sunrise. The Sun rises, stops, hides almost where it
came out and rises again.