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Below are fourteen
facts about Mercury and a table of statistics.
FACT ONE
Before the first space-crafts flew to Mercury to take pictures of
its surface, some astronomers believed that the planet would have
a smooth surface. When Mariner 10 took pictures of Mercury
during its flyby of Venus and Mercury in November
1973, scientists discovered that Mercury is the most cratered
planet in the Solar System with a surface similar to Earth's Moon.
FACT TWO
Mercury has no atmosphere at all. Sunlight reflects off its
surface, similar to how light is reflected directly off the Moon's surface. The lack of
atmosphere means that sunlight cannot be spread through the
atmosphere. The planet's sky is dark, just like the Moon's and, if you were able to
stand on the side of the planet not facing the Sun, you would be able to see
billions of stars in the sky.
FACT THREE
A year on Mercury is only 88 days long, but a full day (from
sunset to sunrise) takes 176 days, even though the planet takes 58 days to rotate on its axis. This causes the Sun to rise above the horizon
at the beginning of a Mercurian day in the East (as on Earth), then move higher into
the sky, move back down towards the horizon at the East, and then
quickly move over to the Western horizon to set, after about 60
days!
FACT FOUR
Mercury (4,878km wide) is slightly bigger than Earth's Moon (3475.6km wide) and is
smaller than Ganymede (5,270km) and Callisto (4,890km), two of Jupiter's
moons, and
Titan (5,150km wide), a moon of Saturn.
FACT FIVE
Mercury can only be seen just after the Sun has risen and just before
the sun sets.
FACT SIX
If you were to stand on Mercury, the Sun would appear two and a
half times bigger than it appears on Earth.
FACT SEVEN
Mercury is about 100 times closer to the Sun than dwarf planet Pluto.
FACT EIGHT
Mercury's speed is caused by the Sun's strong gravitational pull.
Hold a short piece of string with something tied to the end of it
and spin it around. Try it again with a longer piece of string.
Notice how much longer it takes for the object tied to the end of
it to spin round. Your finger acts like the Sun, and the object acts like
a planet orbiting the Sun.
FACT NINE
Despite being the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury
is not the warmest. Venus is warmer. In fact, Mercury can be one of
the coldest planets in the Solar System
FACT TEN
By the time one year has passed on Pluto (after 248 years), 1028
years have happened on Mercury!
VIEW FACTS ABOUT OTHER
DESTINATIONS
The Sun -
Mercury -
Venus
- Earth -
The Moon -
Mars
- Jupiter -
Saturn -
Uranus
- Neptune -
Pluto and Dwarf
Planets
PLANETARY STATISTICS
| NAME |
Mercury |
| MEANING OF
NAME |
Roman
god of commerce, travel and industry. Its Greek equivalent is Hermes,
the messenger of the gods. |
| NAME
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES |
Mercure
(French), Mercurio (Spanish), Merkur (German), Merkurij (Russian),
Mercurio (Italian), Mercúrio (Portuguese), Mercurius (Latin), Hermes
(Greek) |
| AVERAGE
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN |
57,909,175
km / 35,983,095 miles / 0.387 A.U.
Comparison with
Earth: 149,597,890 km / 92,955,820 miles / 1.000 A.U. |
| CLOSEST
DISTANCE TO THE SUN (PERIHELION) |
46,000,000
km / 25,580,000 miles / 0.308 A.U.
Comparison with
Earth: 147,100,000 km / 91,400,000 miles / 0.983 A.U. |
| FARTHEST
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN (APHELION) |
69,820,000
km / 43,380,000 miles / 0.467 A.U.
Comparison with
Earth: 152,100,000 km / 94,500,000 miles / 1.017 A.U. |
| DIAMETER
ACROSS EQUATOR |
2,439.7
km / 1,516 miles
Comparison with
Earth: 12,756 km / 7,926 miles
|
| DIAGRAM
SHOWING PLANET'S SIZE COMPARED TO THE SIZE OF EARTH |
|
| CIRCUMFERENCE
AROUND EQUATOR |
15,329.1
km / 9,525.1 miles
Comparison with
Earth: 40,074 km / 24,901 miles |
| MASS |
330,220,000,000,000,000,000,000
kg
Comparison with
Earth 5,973,700,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg |
| TIME TO SPIN
ON AXIS |
58
days, 15 hours and 30 minutes
Comparison with
Earth: 23 hours, 56 minutes |
| TIME TO ORBIT
THE SUN (1 YEAR) |
88
days
Comparison with
Earth: 365 days, 6 hours |
| DISTANCE
PLANET TRAVELS TO COMPLETE ONE ORBIT |
356,000,000
km / 221,000,000 miles
Comparison with
Earth: 924,375,700 km / 574,380,400 miles |
| GRAVITY (EARTH
= 1) |
0.38 |
| ESCAPE
VELOCITY |
15,300
km/h, 9,500 mph
Comparison with
Earth: 40,248 km/h / 25,009 mph |
| MINIMUM
SURFACE TEMPERATURE |
-173
°c / -279 °F / 100 K
Comparison with
Earth: -88 °c / -126 °F / 185 K |
| MAXIMUM
SURFACE TEMPERATURE |
427
°c / 801 °F / 700 K
Comparison with
Earth: 58 °c / 136 ° F / 331 K |
| WEATHER
CONDITIONS |
The
atmosphere on Mercury is almost non-existent, so there is no weather on
Mercury. Mercury is prone to meteor impacts as the lack of atmosphere
means it isn't protected. The planet's temperature range from the
minimum temperature to the maximum is the greatest of all planets in the
Solar System, but despite being the closest planet to the Sun, it is not
the hottest. |
| CONTENTS OF
ATMOSPHERE |
Mercury's
atmosphere is very thin, and is actually created by atoms blasted from
the surface from solar wind. These atoms, containing nitrogen and
hydrogen, quickly escape into space so a proper atmosphere cannot be
formed. |
| KNOWN MOONS |
There
are no known moons orbiting Mercury |
| PAST MISSIONS
(including nationality and year of launch) |
Mariner
10 (USA, 1974) |
| PRESENT
MISSIONS |
Messenger
(USA, 2004) |
| PLANNED
MISSIONS |
BepiColumbo
(Europe, 2011) |
| NOTABLE
FEATURES |
Mercury
has the most cratered surface in the Solar System. There is possibly
water-ice in permanently sheltered craters. |
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