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Mercury is the closest planet tothe sunand the smallest planet in oursolar system . With a diam of about 3,032 miles ( 4,880 kilometers ) , Mercury is less than half the size ofEarth , which is about 7,926 miles ( 12,756 km ) in diam . But what Mercury lacks in size , it makes up for in speed : It orbits the Sunday quicker than any other planet in thesolar organisation .
How did Mercury get its name?
The planet is named after the Roman deity Mercury , the rapid messenger of the god , who was the Roman equivalent of the Hellenic god Hermes . Mercury orbits our sun every 88 solar day — faster than any other satellite in the solar system — and a year on Mercury is less than three Earth months . This fleet orbit inspired the ancient Romans to connect the small major planet with Mercury , according toCool Cosmos , a website run by the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology , while the ancient Greeks relate the planet with Hermes , according to theEuropean Southern Observatory .
Mercury is seeable in thenight skywithout a telescope and has been known to homo around the Earth for grand of years . The Sumerians made one of the earliest jazz records of the planet in around 3,000 B.C. , according toCool Cosmos .
Is Mercury the hottest planet?
As Mercury is the close major planet to the sun , you might call back it ’s the hot planet . However , Mercury lacks anatmospherelike Earth ’s that can trammel and entertain heating system , so the side facing away from the sun is always very insensate — especially as it use up about 59 Earth mean solar day for the easy - twirl Mercury to complete a rotation . temperature on the surface of Mercury can still contact a toasty 800 degrees Fahrenheit ( 427 degrees Celsius ) on the day side but can fall to as scummy as minus 290 F ( minus 179 atomic number 6 ) on the dark side , consort toNASA .
Venus , the second major planet from the Sunday , is the hottest planet because it has a dull atmosphere that retains heat energy from the sun ’s rays . Venushas a surface temperature of about 860 academic degree Fahrenheit ( 462 degrees Celsius)and stays that hot on both the day and night sides , Live Science antecedently reported .
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Mercury in space surrounded by stars. Image elements furnished by NASA.
What is Mercury made of?
Mercury is for the most part composed of Fe , according to theNatural History Museumin London , U.K. It has an internal nub with a liquid metal outer core and is incase in a pall and gall , just like Earth . Mercury ’s inner core is solid and snug in size to Earth ’s , despite Mercury being a much small planet overall , a 2019 study published in the journalGeophysical Research Lettersfound .
Instead of a full atmosphere , Mercury has an exosphere — the name given to only the thin kayoed layer of Earth ’s atmosphere . Mercury ’s exosphere is formed by solar wind and meteoroid chance on blasting atoms off its control surface , accord toNASA . The exosphere give Mercury llittle trade protection from object like asteroid and the satellite is pockmarked with crater , so much so that Mercury looks similar to Earth’smoon . There are no moon orbiting Mercury because it ’s so near to the Lord’s Day that the sun ’s soberness in all probability pull them away , according to the Natural History Museum in London .
What is Mercury retrograde?
Mercury retrograde is when the planet is likely , but is not in reality , moving backward in the sky . It ’s an optical illusion because of human beings ' perspective of construe thesmaller satellite catch up with up and pass Earthas it curves around the sun , Live Science previously describe . Some astrologists associate Mercury in retrogradewith disruptions to casual animation on Earth , but there ’s no scientific evidence for this .
" The idea that the gravitational force from these very distant eubstance affects our lives in some way just does n’t work in the model of physics , " Jean - Luc Margot , a professor of astronomy and planetary science at the University of California , Los Angeles , previously tell Live Science .
The retrograde conjuring trick materialize with other planet that Earth passes , and it ’s not that rarified . The Mercury retrograde periods in 2022 are Jan. 13 to Feb. 3 , May 10 to June 2 , Sep. 9 to Oct. 1 , and Dec. 28 to Jan. 18 ( 2023 ) , according toThe Old Farmer ’s Almanac .
Mercury transits the sun on Nov. 11, 2019.
touch on : Mercury probe lose it stunning photo of our planet during Earth flyby
Is there life on Mercury?
scientist still have much to learn about Mercury , but they have no reason to think it nurse life . Mercury ’s searing and freeze temperatures , as well as its abundance of solar radiation sickness , are likely too extreme for any living organisms to plow , concord toNASA . Furthermore , thanks to probes like the MESSENGER ( Mercury Surface , Space Environment , Geochemistry , and Ranging ) spacecraft , about 98 % of the surface of Mercury has been snap in contingent , according to theMESSENGERwebsite .
MESSENGER confirmed grounds of frozen water supply on Mercury in 2011 . The methamphetamine hydrochloride is congregated at the pole in craters so it is shield from the sun ’s rays . Much of this ice may have been carried to Mercury on asteroids . However , a 2020 study published in theAstrophysical Journal Lettersfound that Hg could be creating up to 10 % of its own frappe .
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Here ’s how : Mercury ’s airfoil has mineral with grouping of bonded oxygen ( O ) and hydrogen ( H ) atoms called hydroxyls , which can become energized in the Lord’s Day ’s utmost heat and collide to create water ( H2O ) molecules . While the sun also breaks down these mote , some drift around the planet andend up in freezing - cold craters at the pole to spring ice , Live Science ’s baby site Space.com antecedently reported .
" It ’s a little like the vocal ‘ Hotel California . ’ The water molecules can break in to the shadow , but they can never leave , " study primary investigator Thomas Orlando , a prof at the Georgia Institute of Technology ’s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry , suppose in astatementat the time .
Additional resources
To view an effigy gallery of Mercury select by probe , check out NASA’sJet Propulsion Laboratorywebsite . To learn more about the illusion of Mercury retrograde , view this short YouTube video byVox . For more data about the MESSENGER probe mission , inflict NASA ’s in - depthMESSENGER page .
Originally published on Live Science .
