Characteristics of the Planet Mercury
- with a diameter: 4879.4 km.
- with a dough: 3.3010 x 1023 kg.
- with a volume: 60.827.208.742 km3.
- with a density: 5.427 g/cm3.
- In "Solar system” there is a group of planets that are closer to the Star King and Mercury is one of them.
- Its composition is transparent and quite stony material.
What makes Mercury a terrestrial planet?
Mercury as a Terrestrial Planet. As a terrestrial planet, Mercury is characterized with its very thin atmosphere. It is the reason why the planet is alternately changing from freezing and burning temperatures. The temperature varies between 100K to nearly 700K. Apart from being a terrestrial planet, it is also described as a dense planet and ...
What are some interesting facts about planet Mercury?
- Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun in the solar system.
- Mercury is the only terrestrial planet having a slightly eccentric orbit, id est, not flat.
- Mercury is the smallest planet.
- Mercury has no atmosphere.
- Mercury has a lot of craters.
Is Mercury a small planet or a giant planet?
Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. Mercury is a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky. Mercury doesn't really have an atmosphere. Time on Mercury. A day on Mercury lasts 59 Earth days. A year on Mercury lasts 88 Earth days. Mercury’s Neighbors. Mercury does not have any moons. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun.
Which planet is larger Mercury or earth?
Earth is nearly 13,000 kilometers across. The smallest terrestrial planet, Mercury, has a diameter about 40 percent of that size. Jupiter, the biggest planet, is more than ten times larger than Earth. The maximum possible size for a planet is a few times larger than Jupiter - about the same size as the smallest stars.
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What are 5 characteristics about Mercury?
Cool Mercury FactsMercury is the closest planet to the Sun. ... Mercury is also the smallest planet in the Solar System. ... Not only is Mercury the smallest planet, it is also shrinking! ... Mercury has the most craters in the Solar System. ... The biggest crater in Mercury could fit Western Europe.More items...•
What are the characteristics of planet Venus?
Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and it's perpetually shrouded in thick, yellowish clouds of sulfuric acid that trap heat, causing a runaway greenhouse effect. It's the hottest planet in our solar system, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.
What are the characteristics of planets?
It says a planet must do three things: It must orbit a star (in our cosmic neighborhood, the Sun). It must be big enough to have enough gravity to force it into a spherical shape. It must be big enough that its gravity cleared away any other objects of a similar size near its orbit around the Sun.
What does Mercury symbolize?
The Planetary Astronomical Symbols The symbol for Mercury represents the head and winged cap of Mercury, god of commerce and communication, surmounting his caduceus (staff). The symbol for Venus is designated as the female symbol, thought to be the stylized representation of the hand mirror of this goddess of love.
Is Mercury the hottest planet?
Despite its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is not the hottest planet in our solar system – that title belongs to nearby Venus, thanks to its dense atmosphere. But Mercury is the fastest planet, zipping around the Sun every 88 Earth days.
What are 5 characteristics of Mars?
Planet Mars short fact sheetOrbit: Average distance to the sun: 227.94 million km (1.52 AU)Diameter: 6 794 km.Temperature: From -133°C to 27°C: in average -55°C.Pressure: 5.1 millibar at the surface.Mountains: Olympus Mons (Highest volcano in the solar system) rises to 26 km.More items...
What Colour is Mercury?
slate grayThe planets of the solar system are varied in their appearance. Mercury is slate gray while Venus is pearly white, Earth a vibrant blue, and Mars a dusky red.
Which is the most interesting planet?
The planet Saturn: truly massive and stunningly beautiful with its rings. It's also home to amazing moons like Titan. The planet Saturn is probably the best known and most beautiful planet in the Solar System.
What is the hottest planet?
It has a strong greenhouse effect, similar to the one we experience on Earth. Because of this, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. The surface of Venus is approximately 465°C!
What is Mercury the god of?
The Greek god Hermes (the Roman Mercury ) was the god of translators and interpreters. He was the most clever of the Olympian gods, and served as messenger for all the other gods. He ruled over wealth, good fortune, commerce, fertility, and thievery. Among his personal favorite commercial activities was the corn trade.
What signs are ruled by Mercury?
The planet Mercury rules two signs: Gemini and Virgo. Mercury moves around the zodiac so quickly that, as it makes its away around the Sun ahead of us, it appears to be moving backwards at times.
What animal is associated with Mercury?
He was often accompanied by a rooster, herald of the new day, a ram or goat, symbolizing fertility, and a tortoise, referring to Mercury's legendary invention of the lyre from a tortoise shell. Like Hermes, he was also a god of messages, eloquence and of trade, particularly of the grain trade.
What are 5 facts about Venus?
Interesting facts about VenusA day on Venus is longer than a year. ... Venus is hotter than Mercury – despite being further away from the Sun. ... Unlike the other planets in our solar system, Venus spins clockwise on its axis. ... Venus is the second brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon.More items...
What is Venus known for?
Named after the ancient Roman goddess of beauty, Venus is known for its exceptional brightness. Find out about the volcanoes that dot Venus's surface, the storms that rage in its atmosphere, and the surprising feature that makes Venus outshine every planet or star in the night sky.
What are 3 characteristics of Earth?
The three important characteristics of earth are : 1) Earth has life in the form of living organisms. 2) It has oxygen present in the atmosphere. 3) It's 75% part is filled with water.
What is the common characteristic of Venus and Uranus?
The outer rings are brightly colored and easier to see. Like Venus, Uranus rotates in the opposite direction as most other planets. And unlike any other planet, Uranus rotates on its side.
Why is Mercury so dense?
The planet’s mass is comprised of materials that are 70% metallic and 30% silicate. There are several theories to explain why the planet is so dense and the abundance of metallic material. The most widely held theory holds that the high core percentage is the result of an impact. In this theory the planet originally had a metal-silicate ratio similar to the chondrite meteorites common in the Universe and around 2.25 times its current mass. Early in the history of our Solar System, Mercury was struck by a planetesimal sized impactor that was about 1/6 of its hypothesized mass and hundreds of km in diameter. An impact of that magnitude would strip away much of the crust and mantle, leaving behind a large core. Scientists believe that a similar incident created our moon. An additional theory says that the planet formed before the Sun’s energy had stabilized. The planet would have had much more mass in this theory as well, but the temperatures created by the protosun would have been as high as 10,000 K and the majority of the surface rock could have been vaporized. The rock vapor could have then been carried away by the solar wind.
What is the second most dense planet in the universe?
That makes Mercury the second most dense planet amongst our eight. The core is molten and mainly consists of iron. The molten core is able to produce a magnetic field which helps to deflect the solar wind. The magnetic field and slight gravity of the planet allow it to hold onto a tenuous atmosphere.
What is the smallest planet in the solar system?
The volume of Mercury is 6.083 x 10 10 km 3. That seems to be a huge number on the face of it, but Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System by volume (since the demotion of Pluto). It is even smaller than some of the moons in our Solar System.
How many miles is the circumference of mercury?
Radius of Mercury in miles: 1,516.0 miles. Circumference of Mercury. The circumference of Mercury is 15,329 km. In other words, if Mercury’s equator was perfectly flat, and you could drive around it in your car, your odomotor would add 15,329 km from the trip.
How to find the radius of mercury?
If you want to calculate the radius of Mercury, you need to divide the diameter of Mercury in half. While the diameter is 4,879.4 km, the radius of Mercury is only 2,439.7 km. Diameter of Mercury in kilometers: 4,879.4 km. Diameter of Mercury in miles: 3,031.9 miles.
How much smaller is Mercury than Earth?
Need some way to compare that to something more familiar? The diameter of Mercury is only 38% the Earth’s diameter. In other words, you could put almost 3 Mercurys side to side to match the diameter of Earth.
What is the mass of Mercury?
Mass of Mercury. The mass of Mercury is only 5.5% of the Earth’s; the actual value is 3.30 x 10 23 kg. Since Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System, you would expect this relatively small mass. On the other hand, Mercury is the second most dense planet in our Solar System (after Earth).
How does Mercury rotate?
Mercury rotates in a way that is unique in the Solar System. It is tidally locked with the Sun in a 3:2 spin–orbit resonance, meaning that relative to the fixed stars, it rotates on its axis exactly three times for every two revolutions it makes around the Sun. As seen from the Sun, in a frame of reference that rotates with the orbital motion, it appears to rotate only once every two Mercurian years. An observer on Mercury would therefore see only one day every two Mercurian years.
Why is Mercury invisible from Earth?
The planet is rendered invisible from Earth on both of these occasions because of its being obscured by the Sun, except its new phase during a transit. Mercury is technically brightest as seen from Earth when it is at a full phase.
How far away is Mercury from the Sun?
Like Venus, Mercury orbits the Sun within Earth's orbit as an inferior planet, and its apparent distance from the Sun as viewed from Earth never exceeds 28°. This proximity to the Sun means the planet can only be seen near the western horizon after sunset or the eastern horizon before sunrise, usually in twilight.
Why is Mercury the closest planet to the Sun?
This large range arises from the planet's high orbital eccentricity. Essentially because Mercury is closest to the Sun, when taking an average over time, Mercury is the closest planet to the Earth, and—in that measure—it is the closest planet to each of the other planets in the Solar System.
What is the core of Mercury?
Mercury's core has a higher iron content than that of any other major planet in the Solar System, and several theories have been proposed to explain this. The most widely accepted theory is that Mercury originally had a metal–silicate ratio similar to common chondrite meteorites, thought to be typical of the Solar System's rocky matter, and a mass approximately 2.25 times its current mass. Early in the Solar System's history, Mercury may have been struck by a planetesimal of approximately 1/6 that mass and several thousand kilometers across. The impact would have stripped away much of the original crust and mantle, leaving the core behind as a relatively major component. A similar process, known as the giant impact hypothesis, has been proposed to explain the formation of the Moon.
What is the density of Mercury?
The planet's density is the second highest in the Solar System at 5.427 g/cm 3, only slightly less than Earth's density of 5.515 g/cm 3.
Which planet is closest to the Sun?
Essentially because Mercury is closest to the Sun, when taking an average over time, Mercury is the closest planet to the Earth, and—in that measure—it is the closest planet to each of the other planets in the Solar System.
What is the smallest planet in our solar system?
The smallest planet in our solar system has a big presence in our collective imagination. Scores of science fiction writers have been inspired by Mercury, including Isaac Asimov, C. S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke and H. P. Lovecraft. Television and film writers, too, have found the planet an ideal location for storytelling. In the animated television show Invader Zim, Mercury is turned into a prototype giant spaceship by the extinct Martians. And in the 2007 film Sunshine, the Icarus II spacecraft goes into orbit around Mercury to rendezvous with the Icarus I.
How long does it take for Mercury to spin?
Mercury spins slowly compared to Earth, so one day lasts a long time. Mercury takes 59 Earth days to make one full rotation. But a year on Mercury goes fast. Because it’s the closest planet to the sun, it goes around the Sun in just 88 Earth days.
What is the exosphere of Mercury made of?
Mercury's thin atmosphere, or exosphere, is composed mostly of oxygen (O2), sodium (Na), hydrogen (H2), helium (He), and potassium (K). Atoms that are blasted off the surface by the solar wind and micrometeoroid impacts create Mercury's exosphere. 6.
Which planet is smaller, Mercury or the Sun?
Resources. Introduction. The smallest planet in our solar system and nearest to the Sun, Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's Moon. From the surface of Mercury, the Sun would appear more than three times as large as it does when viewed from Earth, and the sunlight would be as much as seven times brighter.
Which planet is the smallest?
Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. It’s a little bigger than Earth’s Moon. It is the closest planet to the Sun, but it’s actually not the hottest. Venus is hotter.
What was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury?
The two spacecraft of ESA-JAXA's BepiColombo are en route to Mercury. NASA's Mariner 10 was the first mission to explore Mercury. NASA's MESSENGER was the first to orbit the innermost planet.
Which planet travels the fastest?
Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system – traveling through space at nearly 29 miles (47 kilometers) per second. The closer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it travels. Since Mercury is the fastest planet and has the shortest distance to travel around the Sun, it has the shortest year of all the planets in our solar system – 88 days.
Is there water on Mercury?
Any water on the surface of Mercury would boil away quickly and escape into space because of Mercurys low gravity, and the constantly blowing solar wind. But you might be surprised to know that astronomers have discovered water on Mercury. Not liquid water, but deposits of water ice at the planets poles.
What does Mercury symbolize?
Solar System Symbols. The symbol for Mercury represents the head and winged cap of Mercury, god of commerce and communication, surmounting his caduceus (staff). The symbol for Venus is designated as the female symbol, thought to be the stylized representation of the hand mirror of this goddess of love.
Is mercury hot or cold?
Since Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, spins slowly, and does not have much of an atmosphere to trap heat, its temperature varies greatly. Mercurys temperatures can go between -279 Fahrenheit (-173 Celsius) at night to 801 Fahrenheit (427 Celsius) during the day. (This is hot enough to melt lead!)
What are some properties of mercury?
The elements atomic mass is 200.59 grams per mole and its specific gravity is 13.5 times that of water. Mercury has a melting point of -38.9oC, a boiling point of 356.7oC, and is the only metal to remain in liquid form at room temperature.
What are 10 interesting facts about mercury?
Its not known who discovered Mercury. A year on Mercury is just 88 days long. Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System. Mercury is the second densest planet. Mercury has wrinkles. Mercury has a molten core. Mercury is only the second hottest planet. Mercury is the most cratered planet in the Solar System.
What color is Venus?
Using human eyes, looking at Venus as it floats in space, would show that the color is a yellowish white. Close up on the planet we would see the reddish-brown surface.
Why does Mercury have no rings?
Unfortunately, Mercury could never get rings like this. Thats because its too close to the Sun. The powerful solar winds blast out from the Sun, and would melt and destroy any icy rings around Mercury.
Why do the rays of mercury look brighter?
Fine particles of crushed rock are more reflective than large pieces, so the rays look brighter. The space environment—dust impacts and solar-wind particles—causes the rays to darken with time. Temperatures on the surface of Mercury are extreme, both hot and cold.
What is the temperature of Mercury?
Without an atmosphere to retain that heat at night, temperatures can dip as low as -290°F (-180°C). Introduction. The smallest planet in our solar system and nearest to the Sun, Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's Moon. From the surface of Mercury, the Sun would appear more than three times as large as it does when viewed from Earth, ...
What is the exosphere of Mercury?
Mercury's exosphere is composed mostly of oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium and potassium. Magnetosphere.
Which planet is the fastest?
Despite its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is not the hottest planet in our solar system – that title belongs to nearby Venus, thanks to its dense atmosphere. But Mercury is the fastest planet, zipping around the Sun every 88 Earth days. Mercury is appropriately named for the swiftest of the ancient Roman gods. Size and Distance.
How far is Mercury from the Sun?
From an average distance of 36 million miles (58 million kilometers), Mercury is 0.4 astronomical units away from the Sun. One astronomical unit (abbreviated as AU), is the distance from the Sun to Earth. From this distance, it takes sunlight 3.2 minutes to travel from the Sun to Mercury.
What are the bright streaks on Mercury called?
Most of Mercury's surface would appear greyish-brown to the human eye. The bright streaks are called "crater rays.". They are formed when an asteroid or comet strikes the surface.
How fast does Mercury travel?
It speeds around the Sun every 88 days, traveling through space at nearly 29 miles (47 kilometers) per second , faster than any other planet.
What is the name of the planet that was captured by a camera aboard the Messenger spacecraft?
Messenger: Mercury. Image of Mercury captured by a camera aboard the Messenger spacecraft. NASA/JHU/APL/Carnegie Institution of Washington. At first glance the surface of the planet looks similar to the cratered terrain of the Moon, an impression reinforced by the roughly comparable size of the two bodies.
What is the view of Mercury?
Mosaic view of Mercury, showing about half the hemisphere of the planet that was illuminated when Mariner 10 departed the planet during its first flyby in March 1974. The landscape is dominated by large impact basins and craters with extensive intercrater plains.
What is the name of the planet that is the closest to the Sun?
Mercury, the innermost planet of the solar system and the eighth in size and mass. Its closeness to the Sun and its smallness make it the most elusive of the planets visible to the unaided eye. Because its rising or setting is always within about two hours of the Sun’s, it is never observable when the sky is fully dark. Mercury is designated by the symbol ☿.
What planets are the least understood?
Launch into other worlds while testing your knowledge about space, celestial bodies, and the solar system. Until the last part of the 20th century, Mercury was one of the least-understood planets, and even now the shortage of information about it leaves many basic questions unsettled.
How far away was the hemisphere missed by the Mariner 10?
This image shows half of the hemisphere missed by Mariner 10 in 1974–75 and was snapped by Messenger's Wide Angle Camera when it was about 27,000 km (17,000 miles) from the planet. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington. The difficulty in seeing it notwithstanding, ...
Is Mercury the same size as the Moon?
At first glance the surface of the planet looks similar to the cratered terrain of the Moon, an impression reinforced by the roughly comparable size of the two bodies. Mercury is far denser, however, having a metallic core that takes up about 61 percent of its volume (compared with 4 percent for the Moon and 16 percent for Earth ). Moreover, its surface shows significant differences from lunar terrain, including a lack of the massive dark-coloured lava flows known as maria and the presence of buckles and scarps that suggest Mercury is shrinking.
When did the Messenger come into orbit?
Messenger was launched in 2004, flew past the planet twice in 2008 and once in 2009, and settled into orbit in 2011. It mapped the entire surface of Mercury before crashing into the planet in 2015.
What is the Planet Mercury?
The solar system" when we analyze it we can see that it is made up of the Sun and the Planets, many of them are accompanied by Satellites.
Characteristics of the Planet Mercury
To get an idea of its size, the Moon is smaller than this Planet. The Mercury diameter is four thousand eight hundred seventy-nine point four km. The movement of this globe is much faster than the rest of the planets, this is because it is closer to the Sun.
Things that may interest the Planet Mercury
In the "planetary system", the Planet that is made up of a large number of craters is Mercury. Due to all the collisions it has had with asteroids and comets, which made all those holes when they fell on the planet. Most of these craters are named after famous people such as writers or artists.
The Atmosphere of the Planet Mercury
In Planet Mercury the layer of Air is quite thin, this is one of the reasons why this Planet is invaded by hundreds of asteroids and meteorites.
A Brief History of Mercury
Mercury has been known since ancient times, you know, mother. Not without reason, it is because Mercury can be seen without using a sophisticated telescope.
smallest planet in the solar system
Launching from the NASA SpacePlace page, Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System. Mercury is also a small, rocky terrestrial planet.
time on wed
Mercury spins slower than Earth, mother. It takes 59 Earth days for Mercury to make one complete revolution.
Overview
Physical characteristics
Mercury is one of four terrestrial planets in the Solar System, and is a rocky body like Earth. It is the smallest planet in the Solar System, with an equatorial radius of 2,439.7 kilometres (1,516.0 mi). Mercury is also smaller—albeit more massive—than the largest natural satellites in the Solar System, Ganymede and Titan. Mercury consists of approximately 70% metallic and 30% silicate material.
Nomenclature
The ancients knew Mercury by different names depending on whether it was an evening star or a morning star. By about 350 BC, the ancient Greeks had realized the two stars were one. They knew the planet as Στίλβων Stilbōn, meaning "twinkling", and Ἑρμής Hermēs, for its fleeting motion, a name that is retained in modern Greek (Ερμής Ermis). The Romans named the planet after the swift-footed Roman messenger god, Mercury (Latin Mercurius), which they equated wit…
Orbit, rotation, and longitude
Mercury has the most eccentric orbit of all the planets in the Solar System; its eccentricity is 0.21 with its distance from the Sun ranging from 46,000,000 to 70,000,000 km (29,000,000 to 43,000,000 mi). It takes 87.969 Earth days to complete an orbit. The diagram illustrates the effects of the eccentricity, showing Mercury's orbit overlaid with a circular orbit having the same semi-major axis. …
Observation
Mercury's apparent magnitude is calculated to vary between −2.48 (brighter than Sirius) around superior conjunction and +7.25 (below the limit of naked-eye visibility) around inferior conjunction. The mean apparent magnitude is 0.23 while the standard deviation of 1.78 is the largest of any planet. The mean apparent magnitude at superior conjunction is −1.89 while that at inferior conju…
Observation history
The earliest known recorded observations of Mercury are from the MUL.APIN tablets. These observations were most likely made by an Assyrian astronomer around the 14th century BC. The cuneiform name used to designate Mercury on the MUL.APIN tablets is transcribed as UDU.IDIM.GU\U4.UD ("the jumping planet"). Babylonian records of Mercury date back to the 1st millennium BC. The
See also
• Outline of Mercury (planet)
• Budha, Hinduism's name for the planet and the god Mercury
• Colonization of Mercury
• Mercury in astrology
External links
• Atlas of Mercury. NASA. 1978. SP-423.
• Mercury nomenclature and map with feature names from the USGS/IAU Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
• Equirectangular map of Mercury by Applied Coherent Technology Corp