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The resonance makes a single solar day (the length between two meridian transits of the Sun) on Mercury last exactly two Mercury years, or about 176 Earth days. [ 111 ] Mercury's orbit is inclined by 7 degrees to the plane of Earth's orbit (the ecliptic ), the largest of all eight known solar planets. [ 112 ]
The classical planets are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, and they take rulership over the hours in this sequence. The sequence is from slowest- to fastest-moving as the planets appear in the night sky, and so is from furthest to nearest in the planetary spheres model. This order has come to be known as the ...
The surface has widely varying temperature, with the equatorial regions ranging from −170 °C (−270 °F) at night to 420 °C (790 °F) during sunlight. In the past, Mercury was volcanically active, producing smooth basaltic plains similar to the Moon. [93] It is likely that Mercury has a silicate crust and a large iron core.
Due to the proximity of Mercury to the Sun, Mercury on average receives an energy flux from the Sun that is about 7 times the solar constant, but may reach nearly 11 times at maximum and about 4.5 times at minimum. The Sun will have an angular diameter of 1.733 to 1.142°.
As night falls, Jupiter will rise in the east-northeast, among the stars that make up the constellation of Taurus, according to NASA. Around Dec. 14, Jupiter will be visible in the night sky ...
If a day takes years, the temperature differential between the day and night side will be pronounced, and problems similar to those noted with extreme orbital eccentricity will come to the fore. The planet also should rotate quickly enough so that a magnetic dynamo may be started in its iron core to produce a magnetic field.
The closest in the past 1,000 years was in 1761, when Mars and Jupiter appeared to the naked eye as a single bright object, according to Giorgini. Looking ahead, the year 2348 will be almost as close. This latest link up of Mars and Jupiter coincides with the Perseid meteor shower, one of the year's brightest showers.
Jupiter and the moon will become visible shortly after nightfall, but the entire show won't be observable until after 10 p.m. local time, once Mars rises above the horizon.