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Mercury is one of four terrestrial planets in the Solar System, which means it 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 is the only metal for which the alchemical planetary name survives, as it was decided it was preferable to "quicksilver" as a chemical name. History. Mercury was found in Egyptian tombs that date from 1500 BC; cinnabar, the most common natural source of mercury, has been in use since the Neolithic Age.
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. Eyes on the Solar System lets you explore the planets, their moons, asteroids, comets and the spacecraft exploring them from 1950 to 2050.
Jun 3, 2024 · 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 Facts. 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.
Jun 13, 2024 · Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. It’s just a little bigger than Earth’s Moon. Mercury itself, though, doesn’t have any moons. It is the closest planet to the Sun, but it’s actually not the hottest. Venus is hotter.
Oct 19, 2018 · Mercury has no rings, no moons, and a relatively weak magnetic field. Mercury is a scarred world covered in craters, ridges, and bright debris from numerous impacts.
Jan 11, 2024 · Mercury Observational Parameters Discoverer: Unknown Discovery Date: Prehistoric Distance from Earth Minimum (10 6 km) 77.3 Maximum (10 6 km) 221.9 Apparent diameter from Earth Maximum (seconds of arc) 13.0 Minimum (seconds of arc) 4.5 Maximum visual magnitude -2.43 Mean values at inferior conjunction with Earth Distance from Earth (10 6 km) 91.69 Apparent diameter (seconds of arc) 11.0
May 15, 2022 · Mercury orbits our sun every 88 days — faster than any other planet in the solar system — and a year on Mercury is less than three Earth months.
Jun 9, 2023 · Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and the smallest planet in the solar system. Here we explore the strange world in more detail.
