Mercury Size report
Mercury is named after the messenger god in ancient Roman mythology who can run fast. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, but it does not have the highest temperatures. It is the second densest planet in the Solar System and the smallest planet.
It is impossible to see Mercury by our nacked eyes due to its closeness to the Sun and its small size. Because it's rising or setting is always within about two hours of the Sun's, it is never observable when the sky is fully dark. Even in more recent eras, many sky observers passed their lifetimes without ever seeing Mercury.
Although it is hard to see, Mercury was already known about 5,000 years ago in Sumerian times. Humans have noticed the existence of Mercury since ancient times, and the planet often appears near the horizon in the early morning or when the sunsets. You will get more information about Mercury in this post.
Mercury Descriptions
Due to the lack of atmosphere, Mercury is the planet with the largest temperature difference between day and night on its surface. The atmosphere is extremely thin and cannot effectively store heat. During the day, the temperature in the equatorial region can reach 430°C, and it can drop to -180°C at night. Mercury's surface resembles that of the Moon, with vast plains and numerous impact craters, suggesting that it has been in non-geological activity for billions of years. Mercury is one of four terrestrial planets in the solar system similar to Earth, with rocky bodies like Earth. Like Venus, there are currently no moons on Mercury.
Orbit And Rotation
- The orbital period is 87.969 earth days, and it will rendezvous with the earth once in about 116 days, and its orbital speed far exceeds that of other planets in the solar system.
- Mercury's axis tilt is the smallest of all planets in the solar system but has the largest orbital eccentricity.
- Mercury has no seasonal changes, and it is the only planet in resonance with the Sun's orbit. This resonance makes a Mercury day two years of Mercury's length or about 176 Earth days.
- Mercury's orbit is on the inner side of Earth (same as Venus), so it only appears in the sky at dawn and dusk and during the day.
Radius, Diameter, And Distance
- With a radius of 2439.7 kilometers at the equator, Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system. Mercury is even smaller than some giant natural satellites, although more massive.
- Mercury's diameter is 3,030 miles (4,878 km), comparable to the size of the continental United States. It makes it about two-fifths the size of Earth.
- There is about 57 million km between Venus and the Sun.
Density, Mass, And Volume
- Mercury has a mass of 3.3 x 1023kilograms.
- Composed of about 70% metal and 30% silicate material, Mercury has a density of 5.43 g/cm3, the second-highest in the solar system after Earth's 5.515 g/cm3.
- Mercury has 14.6 billion cubic miles (60.8 billion cubic km). The volume of Mercury is only about 0.055 times that of Earth.
| Quick Datas Of Mercury | |
|---|---|
| Radius | 2,439.7 km |
| Mass | 3.30 × 1023 kg |
| Density | 5.43 g/cm3 |
| Distance from Sun | 57,909,227 km (0.39 AU) |
| Orbital velocity | 47.36 km/sec |
| Rotation period | 87 earth days |
| Synodic period | 116 Earth days |
| Rotation period (Mercurian sidereal day) | 58.646 Earth days |
| Mercurian mean solar day | 176 Earth days |
| Surface temperature | 700 K (430 °C); 90 K (−180 °C) |
| Number of known moons | none |
Conclusion
Mercury is the smallest and closest planet to the sun in the Solar System. The only human exploration on Mercury was the Marine 10 exploration ship in 1974, which orbited Mercury three times between 1974 and 1975, and obtained many important data and photos. Still, humans don't know enough about Mercury, and only about 45 percent of its surface has been probed. In 1976, the International Astronomical Union began naming craters on Mercury.
