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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 formed about 4.5 billion years ago when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust together to form this small planet nearest the Sun. Like its fellow terrestrial planets, Mercury has a central core, a rocky mantle, and a solid crust. Mercury is the second densest planet, after Earth.
Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system and the nearest to the Sun. Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's Moon. Its surface is covered in tens of thousands of impact craters. 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 ...
Mercury is the first planet from the Sun and the smallest in the Solar System. In English, it is named after the ancient Roman god Mercurius (Mercury), god of commerce and communication, and the messenger of the gods. Mercury is classified as a terrestrial planet, with roughly the same surface gravity as Mars.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and also the smallest planet in the solar system. The small and cratered planet does not have any moons and zips around the sun faster than any other...
Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System. One of five planets visible with the naked eye a, Mercury is just 4,879 Kilometres across its equator, compared with 12,742 Kilometres for the Earth. Mercury is the second densest planet. Even though the planet is small, Mercury is very dense.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the characteristics that make Mercury such a unique planet in the Solar system. But first, here are some quick facts about it. As you might already know, it is the closest planet to the Sun, but how close is it really?
Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System by surface area, volume, and equatorial diameter. Surprisingly, it is also one of the most dense. It gained its ‘smallest’ title after Pluto was...
Surface pressure: <~5 x 10-15 bar (0.005 picobar) Average temperature: 440 K (167 C) (590-725 K, sunward side) Total mass of atmosphere: <~10000 kg Atmospheric composition (Column abundances in 10 6 per cm 2): Sodium 12,000-200,000; Magnesium 100,000; Oxygen <40,000; Hydrogen 5000, Potassium 800-1300, Calcium 300-1000; Iron <300; Aluminum 15 ...
Instead of an atmosphere, Mercury possesses a thin exosphere made up of atoms blasted off the surface by the solar wind and striking meteoroids. Mercury's exosphere is composed mostly of oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium, and potassium.