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This is because, coincidentally, Mercury's rotation period is almost exactly half of its synodic period with respect to Earth. Due to Mercury's 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, a solar day lasts about 176 Earth days. [27] A sidereal day (the period of rotation) lasts about 58.7 Earth days. [27]
In astronomy, the rotation period or spin period [1] of a celestial object (e.g., star, planet, moon, asteroid) has two definitions. The first one corresponds to the sidereal rotation period (or sidereal day), i.e., the time that the object takes to complete a full rotation around its axis relative to the background stars (inertial space).
The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy , it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun , moons orbiting planets, exoplanets orbiting other stars , or binary stars .
Mercury – smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System. Its orbital period (about 88 Earth days) is less than any other planet in the Solar System. Seen from Earth, it appears to move around its orbit in about 116 days. It has no known natural satellites. It is named after the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger to the gods.
In the case of Mercury, half of the greater axis is about 5.79 × 10 10 m, the eccentricity of its orbit is 0.206 and the period of revolution 87.97 days or 7.6 × 10 6 s. From these and the speed of light (which is ~ 3 × 10 8 m/s ), it can be calculated that the apsidal precession during one period of revolution is ε = 5.028 × 10 −7 ...
Learn about Mercury retrograde's shadow period and what it means, as well as the dates of Mercury retroshade on 2022. Skip to main content. Sign in. Mail. 24/7 Help. For premium support please ...
Mercury retrograde refers to the period of time when Mercury moves slower than the Earth around the sun – causing it to appear to spin backward in the night sky. Retrograde motion is an apparent ...
Here, the ratio of the rotation period of a body to its own orbital period is some simple fraction different from 1:1. A well known case is the rotation of Mercury, which is locked to its own orbit around the Sun in a 3:2 resonance. [2] This results in the rotation speed roughly matching the orbital speed around perihelion. [14]