Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System and the closest to the Sun. Its orbit around the Sun takes 87.97 Earth days, the shortest of all the Sun’s planets. It is named after the Roman god Mercurius (Mercury)
It has surface temperatures that vary diurnally more than on any other planet in the Solar System, ranging from −173 °C; −280 °F at night to 427 °C; 800 °F during the day across the equatorial regions.
The polar regions are constantly below −93 °C; −136 °F. The planet has no known natural satellites.
Stats
Facts
Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system.
Mercury is named after the messenger of the Roman gods.
Mercury is one of the four terrestrial planets.
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun at a distance of 57 million kilometers.
Mercury has the second highest density of all planets in our solar system.
Mercury’s mass is equal to 0.055 x the mass of Earth.
Mercury’s equatorial circumference is 15329 km.
Mercury has a radius of 2439 km and a diameter of 4879 km.
Mercury’s diameter is only two-fifths of the diameter of Earth.
Mercury has no known moons.
Mercury does not have a ring system.
It takes 87.97 Earth days for mercury to orbit the sun.
One day on Mercury lasts 176 Earth days.
Mercury is made up of mostly rock and heavy metals.
Mercury is the most heavily cratered planet.
The largest crater is called the Caloris Basin.
This crater is 1550 km in diameter.
Mercury’s surface temperature can get to -173 degrees Celsius at night.
Mercury’s surface temperature can reach 427 degrees Celsius during the day.
The rays of the sun are approximately seven times stronger on Mercury than they are on Earth.
The Sun would appear three times as large in the sky as it does when viewed from Earth.
Mercury has a very thin atmosphere called an exosphere. It is made out of oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium, and potassium.
Mercury has been known to humanity since ancient times.
The planet has just 38% of the gravity on Earth.
The orbit of Mercury is an ellipse rather than circular.
Mercury does not experience any seasons.
Mercury has a large iron core that is about 40% of its volume.
Mercury has a weak magnetic field. Its strength is about 1% of the magnetic field on Earth.
NASA has mapped the entire surface of Mercury.
Mercury’s core has a higher iron content than that of any other major planet in the Solar System.
