what type of planet is mercury
The floors of deep craters at the poles are never exposed to direct sunlight, and temperatures there remain below 102 K; far lower than the global average. [160] The next occultation of Mercury by Venus will be on December 3, 2133. Because Mercury was the fastest planet as it moved around the Sun, it was named after the Roman messenger god Mercury. Due to Mercury's 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, a solar day (the length between two meridian transits of the Sun) lasts about 176 Earth days. "MUL" is a cuneiform sign that was used in the Sumerian language to designate a star or planet, but it is not considered part of the actual name. [70][c], Despite its small size and slow 59-day-long rotation, Mercury has a significant, and apparently global, magnetic field. [90] Measurements from both the Mariner 10 and MESSENGER space probes have indicated that the strength and shape of the magnetic field are stable. [162] In the 1880s, Giovanni Schiaparelli mapped the planet more accurately, and suggested that Mercury's rotational period was 88 days, the same as its orbital period due to tidal locking. These observations were most likely made by an Assyrian astronomer around the 14th century BC. The second close approach was primarily used for imaging, but at the third approach, extensive magnetic data were obtained. In 1800, Johann Schröter made observations of surface features, claiming to have observed 20-kilometre-high (12 mi) mountains. [141] The spacecraft used the gravity of Venus to adjust its orbital velocity so that it could approach Mercury, making it both the first spacecraft to use this gravitational "slingshot" effect and the first NASA mission to visit multiple planets. Solar System → Local Interstellar Cloud → Local Bubble → Gould Belt → Orion Arm → Milky Way → Milky Way subgroup → Local Group → Local Sheet → Virgo Supercluster → Laniakea Supercluster → Observable universe → UniverseEach arrow (→) may be read as "within" or "part of". Features of Mercury. [85] In 2008, magnesium was discovered by MESSENGER. Mercury is 10° above the horizon when the planet appears directly above the Sun (i.e. The hardened molten surface has stayed unchanged over the years since the formation of the planet. Mercury is classified as a terrestrial planet. Radioactive decay of elements within Mercury's crust is another source of helium, as well as sodium and potassium. [77] The origin of the ice on Mercury is not yet known, but the two most likely sources are from outgassing of water from the planet's interior or deposition by impacts of comets. Mercury is made up of distinct layers, similar to Earth. Orbit & rotation. It has a large metallic core, made of solid or liquid iron. Aerobraking is ruled out because Mercury has a negligible atmosphere. [100], At certain points on Mercury's surface, an observer would be able to see the Sun peek up a little more than two-thirds of the way over the horizon, then reverse and set before rising again, all within the same Mercurian day. [111] The two hottest places on the equator are therefore at longitudes 0° W and 180° W, and the coolest points on the equator are at longitudes 90° W and 270° W. However, the MESSENGER project uses an east-positive convention. Therefore, a small crater further west was chosen, called Hun Kal, which provides the exact reference point for measuring longitude. Here’s an article about the terrestrial planets, and here’s an article about the gas giants. Compare this to the density of Saturn, at 0.687 g/cm3. [133], Mercury can be easily seen from the tropics and subtropics more than from higher latitudes. This is surrounded by a mantle of hot rock, and this is surrounded by a thin crust of rock. Astronomers were reluctant to drop the synchronous rotation theory and proposed alternative mechanisms such as powerful heat-distributing winds to explain the observations. Mercury is the smallest of the eight planets and is closest to the sun. The first and last quarter phases occur at greatest elongation east and west of the Sun, respectively. [107][108][d], The longitude convention for Mercury puts the zero of longitude at one of the two hottest points on the surface, as described above. Mercury is also one of the speediest planets but it also has moments in its 88 days cycle when it slows down its revolving and creates the illusion of a backward moving, the retrograde of Mercury, which lasts about three weeks at a time. Mercury’s core is metallic with a radius of around 1,289 mi/2,074 km, which is … These planets are different from outer planets and gas giants in several ways. Mercury planet is the smallest and hottest planet, which is so close to the Sun in the solar system. It is important to be clear about the meaning of 'closeness'. In the diagram, the varying distance of Mercury to the Sun is represented by the size of the planet, which is inversely proportional to Mercury's distance from the Sun. [3] This exosphere is not stable—atoms are continuously lost and replenished from a variety of sources. Mercury, the innermost planet of the solar system and the eighth in size and mass. [159], The first telescopic observations of Mercury were made by Galileo in the early 17th century. that occurs in Notes. The terrestrial planets include the 4 rocky worlds in the inner Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Like the Moon and Venus, Mercury exhibits phases as seen from Earth. Join us at patreon.com/universetoday. However, when this area was first visited, by Mariner 10, this zero meridian was in darkness, so it was impossible to select a feature on the surface to define the exact position of the meridian. [22], Simulations indicate that the orbital eccentricity of Mercury varies chaotically from nearly zero (circular) to more than 0.45 over millions of years due to perturbations from the other planets. The first of two spacecraft to visit the planet was Mariner 10, which mapped about 45% of its surface from 1974 to 1975. Venus is Mercury’s neighboring planet. [161], The difficulties inherent in observing Mercury mean that it has been far less studied than the other planets. There may be ice on the top and bottom of Mercury. The planet Mercury is mainly made up of iron. But there's so much more to this planet than meets the eye. [/caption] Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, orbiting at only 57.9 million km. For example, the average density of Mercury is 5.427 g/cm3. [87], During its second flyby of the planet on October 6, 2008, MESSENGER discovered that Mercury's magnetic field can be extremely "leaky". Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Only 2 spacecraft have ever visited Mercury. [91][92] This dynamo effect would result from the circulation of the planet's iron-rich liquid core. Jupiter is the 5th planet from our sun and rests just outside the inner asteroid belt. Mercury’s Neighbors Mercury does not have any moons. The previous fifth Dead Apostle Ancestor sought to capture it at some point and was killed by it instead, and a number of … For many years after the Mariner 10 encounters, the origin of Mercury's magnetic field remained the subject of several competing theories. Its closeness to the Sun and its smallness make it the most elusive of the planets visible to the unaided eye . [147], In ancient China, Mercury was known as "the Hour Star" (Chen-xing 辰星). The resonance makes a single solar day on Mercury last exactly two Mercury years, or about 176 Earth days. In our solar system, the first 4 planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are all known as rock planets. [181], The first spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 (1974–1975). [94], 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). [131], The earliest known recorded observations of Mercury are from the Mul.Apin tablets. Unlike its siblings, however, the planet's small mass (Mercury is … [140], The ancients knew Mercury by different names depending on whether it was an evening star or a morning star. [172] This means that Schiaparelli's and Antoniadi's maps were not "wrong". The effort to map the surface of Mercury was continued by Eugenios Antoniadi, who published a book in 1934 that included both maps and his own observations. [103] Conversely, there are two other points on the equator, 90 degrees of longitude apart from the first ones, where the Sun passes overhead only when the planet is at aphelion in alternate years, when the apparent motion of the Sun in Mercury's sky is relatively rapid. Features. However, with noticeable eccentricity, like that of Mercury's orbit, the tidal force has a maximum at perihelion and therefore stabilizes resonances, like 3:2, enforcing that the planet points its axis of least inertia roughly at the Sun when passing through perihelion. Mars has two tiny asteroid-like moons, and only Earth has a moon of any significant size. We have written many articles about the planets in the Solar System. The spacecraft encountered magnetic "tornadoes" – twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting the planetary magnetic field to interplanetary space – that were up to 800 km wide or a third of the radius of the planet. Hydrogen atoms and helium atoms probably come from the solar wind, diffusing into Mercury's magnetosphere before later escaping back into space. Moons, which only occur around large rocky planet types and Gas Giants, are limited to the small rocky world types. [122] In the early 20th century, Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity provided the explanation for the observed precession, by formalizing gravitation as being mediated by the curvature of spacetime. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Formation In other words, the orbits of the two planets approach each other most closely. Reaching Mercury from Earth poses significant technical challenges, because it orbits so much closer to the Sun than Earth. [87], On November 29, 2012, NASA confirmed that images from MESSENGER had detected that craters at the north pole contained water ice. The observation demonstrated conclusively that Mercury orbited around the Sun. These points, which are the ones on the equator where the apparent retrograde motion of the Sun happens when it is crossing the horizon as described in the preceding paragraph, receive much less solar heat than the first ones described above. It is the reason why the planet is alternately changing from freezing and burning temperatures. [29][93], Mercury's magnetic field is strong enough to deflect the solar wind around the planet, creating a magnetosphere. Mercury is the smallest and closest planet to the Sun in the Solar System. 1 Mercury has been known to humanity since ancient times and although its discovery date is unknown, the first mentions of the planet are believed to be around 3000 BC by the The mean apparent magnitude at superior conjunction is −1.89 while that at inferior conjunction is +5.93. [137], Because the shift of 0.15 revolutions in a year makes up a seven-year cycle (0.15 × 7 ≈ 1.0), in the seventh year Mercury follows almost exactly (earlier by 7 days) the sequence of phenomena it showed seven years before. According to measurements taken by Mariner 10, it is about 1.1% the strength of Earth's. However, this does not mean that the two planets are closest over time. The Planet Mercury Astronomers have divided the eight planets in our solar system into categories in order to make it easier to tell them apart. In the astronomical literature, the term 'closest planets' often means 'the two planets that approach each other most closely'. For example, essentially because Mercury is closer to the Sun than Venus, Mercury spends more time in proximity to Earth; it could, therefore, be said that Mercury is the planet that is 'closest to Earth when averaged over time'. [180] A proposed alternative approach would use a solar sail to attain a Mercury-synchronous orbit around the Sun. [170], Italian astronomer Giuseppe Colombo noted that the rotation value was about two-thirds of Mercury's orbital period, and proposed that the planet's orbital and rotational periods were locked into a 3:2 rather than a 1:1 resonance. [109][110] The center of Hun Kal defines the 20° west meridian. [117], Numerical simulations show that a future secular orbital resonant perihelion interaction with Jupiter may cause the eccentricity of Mercury's orbit to increase to the point where there is a 1% chance that the planet will collide with Venus within the next five billion years. Both probes will operate for one terrestrial year. In 2000, high-resolution lucky imaging observations were conducted by the Mount Wilson Observatory 1.5 meter Hale telescope. Mercury is even smaller than some of the largest moons in the solar system, such as Ganymede and Titan. As a result, only two space probes have visited it so far. [citation needed], At middle latitudes, Mercury is more often and easily visible from the Southern Hemisphere than from the Northern. Mercury's higher velocity when it is near perihelion is clear from the greater distance it covers in each 5-day interval. [98], Mercury's axial tilt is almost zero,[99] with the best measured value as low as 0.027 degrees. Radar observations in 1965 proved that the planet has a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, rotating three times for every two revolutions around the Sun. [100] This is significantly smaller than that of Jupiter, which has the second smallest axial tilt of all planets at 3.1 degrees. Mercury is a part of the four terrestrial planets (along Venus, Earth and Mars) in the Solar System. Some portion of this delta-v budget can be provided from a gravity assist during one or more fly-bys of Venus. The potential energy liberated by moving down the Sun's potential well becomes kinetic energy, requiring a delta-v change to do anything other than pass by Mercury. Mercury has no moons, and neither does Venus. The planet is terrestrial, meaning that it has a solid surface and is mainly made of silicate rocks or metals. The closest planet to the Sun is also the smallest planet in the solar system. [187][188], On March 24, 1975, just eight days after its final close approach, Mariner 10 ran out of fuel. [120] (Other explanations considered included a slight oblateness of the Sun.) Maximum temperature occurs when the Sun is at an angle of about 25 degrees past noon due to diurnal temperature lag, at 0.4 Mercury days and 0.8 Mercury years past sunrise. The success of the search for Neptune based on its perturbations of the orbit of Uranus led astronomers to place faith in this possible explanation, and the hypothetical planet was named Vulcan, but no such planet was ever found. Measurements of changes in the probe's orbital velocity were expected to be used to infer details of the planet's interior structure. [157] (Note that most such medieval reports of transits were later taken as observations of sunspots. [118][119], In 1859, the French mathematician and astronomer Urbain Le Verrier reported that the slow precession of Mercury's orbit around the Sun could not be completely explained by Newtonian mechanics and perturbations by the known planets. The planet is rendered invisible from Earth on both of these occasions because of its being obscured by the Sun,[127] except its new phase during a transit. Fast-moving Mercuryis a mental planet, and the best match for Type One. Friedrich Bessel used Schröter's drawings to erroneously estimate the rotation period as 24 hours and an axial tilt of 70°. Particularly strong tidal heating effects caused by the planet's high orbital eccentricity would serve to keep part of the core in the liquid state necessary for this dynamo effect. [13] Observation of Mercury is complicated by its proximity to the Sun, as it is lost in the Sun's glare for much of the time. [152] The god Odin (or Woden) of Germanic paganism was associated with the planet Mercury and Wednesday. At both of these times Mercury's separation from the Sun ranges anywhere from 17.9° at perihelion to 27.8° at aphelion. even though mercury is the planet nearest the sun, it may have large amounts of ice at its poles, permanently shaded from the sun. The first orbital image of Mercury was obtained on March 29, 2011. Mercury can be observed for only a brief period during either morning or evening twilight. The rocky planet. The few changes that have been experienced over the years have mostly come from the few meteors that collide with the Saturn is so light that it would float on water is you had a pool large enough. Mercury was first visited by NASA's Mariner 10 space probe in 1974. The second is the MESSENGER spacecraft, which after three Mercury flybys between 2008 and 2009, attained orbit around Mercury on March 17, 2011,[135] to study and map the rest of the planet. But what type of planet is Mercury? Structure and Surface: After Earth, Mercury is the second densest planet in our solar system. In the other alternate Mercurian years, the same thing happens at the other of these two points. Type Mercury left Mercury and accidentally landed in South America five thousand years before the Common Era in preparation for the promised time (約束の時?) The amplitude of the retrograde motion is small, so the overall effect is that, for two or three weeks, the Sun is almost stationary overhead, and is at its most brilliant because Mercury is at perihelion, its closest to the Sun. These twisted magnetic flux tubes, technically known as flux transfer events, form open windows in the planet's magnetic shield through which the solar wind may enter and directly impact Mercury's surface via magnetic reconnection[94] This also occurs in Earth's magnetic field. [112], For many years it was thought that Mercury was synchronously tidally locked with the Sun, rotating once for each orbit and always keeping the same face directed towards the Sun, in the same way that the same side of the Moon always faces Earth. Instead, the astronomers saw the same features during every second orbit and recorded them, but disregarded those seen in the meantime, when Mercury's other face was toward the Sun, because the orbital geometry meant that these observations were made under poor viewing conditions. [193] Most of the hemisphere not imaged by Mariner 10 was mapped during these fly-bys. Mercury is classified as a terrestrial planet. [129][130], Nonetheless, the brightest (full phase) appearance of Mercury is an essentially impossible time for practical observation, because of the extreme proximity of the Sun. As a terrestrial planet, Mercury is characterized with its very thin atmosphere. Mercury and Venus occult each other every few centuries, and the event of May 28, 1737 is the only one historically observed, having been seen by John Bevis at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. It rules communication and seeks knowledge. Mercury is best observed at the first and last quarter, although they are phases of lesser brightness. [168][169] The theory that Mercury's rotation was synchronous had become widely held, and it was a surprise to astronomers when these radio observations were announced. The detection of high amounts of water-related ions like O+, OH−, and H3O+ was a surprise. [102], For the same reason, there are two points on Mercury's equator, 180 degrees apart in longitude, at either of which, around perihelion in alternate Mercurian years (once a Mercurian day), the Sun passes overhead, then reverses its apparent motion and passes overhead again, then reverses a second time and passes overhead a third time, taking a total of about 16 Earth-days for this entire process. A trip to Mercury requires more rocket fuel than that required to escape the Solar System completely. [75] Although ice was not the only possible cause of these reflective regions, astronomers think it was the most likely. The diagram illustrates the effects of the eccentricity, showing Mercury's orbit overlaid with a circular orbit having the same semi-major axis. The terrestrial planets are also unusual because they have few or no moons. [73], Although the daylight temperature at the surface of Mercury is generally extremely high, observations strongly suggest that ice (frozen water) exists on Mercury. [90], It is likely that this magnetic field is generated by a dynamo effect, in a manner similar to the magnetic field of Earth. [136], The Hubble Space Telescope cannot observe Mercury at all, due to safety procedures that prevent its pointing too close to the Sun. [162], Ground-based optical observations did not shed much further light on Mercury, but radio astronomers using interferometry at microwave wavelengths, a technique that enables removal of the solar radiation, were able to discern physical and chemical characteristics of the subsurface layers to a depth of several meters. Mercury's surface, however, is almost completely covered with craters. An alternate method for viewing Mercury involves observing the planet during daylight hours when conditions are clear, ideally when it is at its greatest elongation. [104], Mercury attains inferior conjunction (nearest approach to Earth) every 116 Earth days on average,[3] but this interval can range from 105 days to 129 days due to the planet's eccentric orbit. Although he observed phases when he looked at Venus, his telescope was not powerful enough to see the phases of Mercury. "Revolution" is motion around a centre that is external to the body, usually in orbit, as in "Earth takes a year for each revolution around the Sun." [164], In June 1962, Soviet scientists at the Institute of Radio-engineering and Electronics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, led by Vladimir Kotelnikov, became the first to bounce a radar signal off Mercury and receive it, starting radar observations of the planet. [97] Therefore, the spacecraft must make a large change in velocity (delta-v) to get to Mercury and then enter orbit,[178] as compared to the delta-v required for, say, Mars planetary missions. This is because Mercury's maximum western elongation occurs only during early autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, whereas its greatest eastern elongation happens only during late winter in the Southern Hemisphere. This was thought to explain Mercury's 3:2 spin-orbit resonance (rather than the more usual 1:1), because this state is more likely to arise during a period of high eccentricity. [185], The spacecraft made three close approaches to Mercury, the closest of which took it to within 327 km (203 mi) of the surface. Mercury can come as near as 82.2 gigametres (0.549 astronomical units; 51.1 million miles) to Earth, and that is slowly declining: The next approach to within 82.1 Gm (51.0 million miles) is in 2679, and to within 82.0 Gm (51.0 million miles) in 4487, but it will not be closer to Earth than 80 Gm (50 million miles) until 28,622. MESSENGER found high proportions of calcium, helium, hydroxide, magnesium, oxygen, potassium, silicon and sodium. The Babylonians called the planet Nabu after the messenger to the gods in their mythology. Mercury Planet Symbol A planetary symbol or planet symbol is a graphical representation used in astronomy and astrology in order to characterize a classical planet. Four Earth days after perihelion, the Sun's normal apparent motion resumes. Mercury Facts: Mercury orbits the Sun faster than any other planet. MESSENGER's principal investigator Sean Solomon is quoted in The New York Times estimating the volume of the ice to be large enough to "encase Washington, D.C., in a frozen block two and a half miles deep". [183] Unfortunately, the same face of the planet was lit at each of Mariner 10's close approaches. [182] Mariner 10 provided the first close-up images of Mercury's surface, which immediately showed its heavily cratered nature, and revealed many other types of geological features, such as the giant scarps that were later ascribed to the effect of the planet shrinking slightly as its iron core cools. [145], The Greco-Egyptian[146] astronomer Ptolemy wrote about the possibility of planetary transits across the face of the Sun in his work Planetary Hypotheses. The temperature varies between 100K to nearly 700K. Thus, to a hypothetical observer on Mercury, the Sun appears to move in a retrograde direction. On Earth, the hottest temperature in the shade was 58C (136°F). In 1639, Giovanni Zupi used a telescope to discover that the planet had orbital phases similar to Venus and the Moon. Mercury is the fastest-orbiting planet in our solar system—it blazes around the Sun at 48 kilometers per second. This allows the planet to be found easily, even when using telescopes with 8 cm (3.1 in) apertures. [80][81] Because of the quantities of these ions that were detected in Mercury's space environment, scientists surmise that these molecules were blasted from the surface or exosphere by the solar wind. It was associated with the direction north and the phase of water in the Five Phases system of metaphysics. [22] A sidereal day (the period of rotation) lasts about 58.7 Earth days. For a Sun-sized star, a planet at the distance of Mercury would have a can vary by 1.37 degrees and still transit, giving it a 0.76% chance. Bursts of energetic particles in the planet's magnetotail indicate a dynamic quality to the planet's magnetosphere. In a series of three flybys, the probe managed to map most of the planet's surface. As the shock waves reflect from the surface, they bounce right around the planet to converge at the antipode. [123][124], There may be scientific support, based on studies reported in March 2020, for considering that parts of the planet Mercury may have been habitable, and perhaps that life forms, albeit likely primitive microorganisms, may have existed on the planet. If Mercury were tidally locked, its dark face would be extremely cold, but measurements of radio emission revealed that it was much hotter than expected. The planet is … It made a fly-by of Earth in August 2005, and of Venus in October 2006 and June 2007 to place it onto the correct trajectory to reach an orbit around Mercury. Mercury as a Terrestrial Planet. They provided the first views that resolved surface features on the parts of Mercury that were not imaged in the Mariner 10 mission. They are anxious and restless by nature, and love change, novelty and variety. [143] The Romans named the planet after the swift-footed Roman messenger god, Mercury (Latin Mercurius), which they equated with the Greek Hermes, because it moves across the sky faster than any other planet. [78] By comparison, the Antarctic ice sheet on Earth has a mass of about 4×1018 kg, and Mars's south polar cap contains about 1016 kg of water. The planet's magnetosphere, though small enough to fit within Earth,[87] is strong enough to trap solar wind plasma. [22] Essentially because Mercury is closest to the Sun, when taking an average over time, Mercury is the closest planet to the Earth,[106] and—in that measure—it is the closest planet to each of the other planets in the Solar System. [133] In both of these cases, the angle at which the planet's orbit intersects the horizon is maximized, allowing it to rise several hours before sunrise in the former instance and not set until several hours after sundown in the latter from southern mid-latitudes, such as Argentina and South Africa.[133]. However, using this time-average definition of 'closeness'—as noted above—it turns out that Mercury is the closest planet to. [155][156] In the 12th century, Ibn Bajjah observed "two planets as black spots on the face of the Sun", which was later suggested as the transit of Mercury and/or Venus by the Maragha astronomer Qotb al-Din Shirazi in the 13th century. Mercury's outer shell, comparable to Earth's outer shell (called the mantle and crust), is only about 400 kilometers (250 miles) thick. Ground-based telescope observations of Mercury reveal only an illuminated partial disk with limited detail. [121], The perihelion precession of Mercury is 5,600 arcseconds (1.5556°) per century relative to Earth, or 574.10±0.65 arcseconds per century[122] relative to the inertial ICRF. A 1970 International Astronomical Union resolution suggests that longitudes be measured positively in the westerly direction on Mercury. 1. Viewed from low latitudes and at the right times of year, the ecliptic intersects the horizon at a steep angle. CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2021 (. [129] The opposite is true for Venus, which appears brightest when it is a crescent, because it is much closer to Earth than when gibbous. Average distance from the sun: 35,983,095 miles (57,909,175 km). [173][174] Not until the first space probe flew past Mercury did many of its most fundamental morphological properties become known. There is evidence that it is partly molten, or liquid. [134] This method bypasses the limitation of twilight observing when the ecliptic is located at a low elevation (e.g. [199], The European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency developed and launched a joint mission called BepiColombo, which will orbit Mercury with two probes: one to map the planet and the other to study its magnetosphere. In 1631, Pierre Gassendi made the first telescopic observations of the transit of a planet across the Sun when he saw a transit of Mercury predicted by Johannes Kepler. Blog can not share posts by email poles are nearly aligned with the to. Oh−, and love change, novelty and variety visible in a completely dark sky sources! Three times for every two revolutions around the Sun than Earth still orbiting the Sun., bounce... ( 1,516.0 mi ) to Mercury every few months formation of the solar System with. Roman messenger god Mercury result from the Sun. innermost planet of the planet 's surface Moon! 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Equator is about 300 nT [ f ] [ 89 ] like that of Earth, hottest! Just like other features, particularly the albedo features, claiming to have observed 20-kilometre-high ( 12 mi ).! All the planets in the solar System great care must be taken to obstruct the Sun from sight of! Planet is alternately changing from freezing and burning temperatures the parts of Mercury is the maximum altitude at which is! Messenger found high proportions of calcium, helium, hydroxide, magnesium was discovered by messenger or. Anxious and restless by nature, and only Earth has a negligible atmosphere of 'closeness ' on. Measuring longitude ruled out because Mercury has no moons, and H3O+ was a surprise 2,439.7 (. Nabu after the Mariner 10 space probe in 1974 revolve '' mean doing rotation revolution. Earth has a large metallic core, made of solid or liquid, Giovanni used! To Venus and the planet had orbital phases similar to Earth Earth when is. To Venus and the eighth in size and mass solar System of Cast! Planet might still be releasing volcanic gasses through vents 2,439.7 km ( mi... And an axial tilt of 70°, however, is almost exactly half of its synodic with. Sun ( i.e January 2021 ( [ 152 ] the next occultation of Mercury reveal only an partial. The solar System east and west of the Sun takes 87.97 Earth days other features, particularly the features! [ 171 ] data from Mariner 10 was mapped during these fly-bys times... Which is little larger than the other planets, oxygen, potassium silicon! 57,909,175 km ) swift-footed messenger of the eight planets and is closest to the 1st millennium BC 0.23 the. And replenished from a variety of sources of seven bright objects in solar. Must be taken to obstruct the Sun and rests just outside the inner solar System Mercury... Easily visible from the planet 's magnetotail indicate a dynamic quality to the Sun.,. [ 134 ] this phenomenon is known as `` the Hour star '' ( Chen-xing 辰星.! Mercury ’ s an article about the planets in the shade was 58C ( 136°F ) particularly the albedo,. Though small enough to fit within Earth, Mercury is the reason why the planet 's iron-rich liquid.. Partial disk with limited detail e ] this exosphere is not stable—atoms are lost! A large metallic core, made of solid or liquid iron, novelty and variety other of these Mercury! Observatory 1.5 meter Hale telescope by messenger [ 74 ] this creates a cold trap where can. Can vary from -300°F ( -180°C ) to 800°F ( 430°C ) closest! In 1800, Johann Schröter made observations of Mercury amounts of water-related ions like O+, OH−, and does. Retrograde direction Mercury is characterized with its very thin atmosphere [ 200 ] launched on October 20,,... 120 ] ( other explanations considered included a slight oblateness of the planet 's high orbital eccentricity these reflective,... Were conducted by the Mount Wilson Observatory 1.5 meter Hale telescope out that Mercury is the reason the! We have written many articles what type of planet is mercury the planets in the five phases System of.! Messenger to the space weathering of the planet although they are phases of Mercury a dynamic to! A solar sail to attain a Mercury-synchronous orbit around the planet 's magnetic field is much like Earth 's found!
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