10 Facts About Mercury
10 Facts About Mercury 1) Mercury is the smallest of all the 8 planets in our Solar System. That wasn't always the case, on September 13, 2006, Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet. 2. One day on Mercury is equal to 176 Earth days. Over the years of rotating around the Sun, Mercury's rotation has been slowed to match its solar orbit around the Sun. 3. Mercury is the second densest planet. Second only to yours truly, the Earth. Earth Mercury 4 Mercury is the second hottest planet. While Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, Venus has a higher average temperature than Mercury. 5 Mercury has no atmosphere, kind of. 38% of the grauity on Earth, which isn't enough to create and retain an atmosphere from. 6. Mercury has a very elliptical orbit. It takes Mercury -88 Earth days to orbit the Sun, from the vantage point on Earth – Mercury appears to orbit the Sun every 116 Earth days. 7. Mercury has the greatest amount of craters of any planet. Mercury has been dormant for so long, it no longer has the natural geological functions needed to heal itself when its surface is hit by asteroids or comets. 8. Mercury has water ice on it. Mercury's craters and basins are so deep, they actually shield the area inside of themselves from the heat of the Sun. We've only sent visitors to Mercury, twice. Because Mercury is so close to the Sun, it makes sending objects to Mercury difficult and keeping objects in orbit even more difficult. 10 Mercury's core is massive. Mercury's iron core is believed to be ~40% of its total volume. Earth's core is only about 17% of its volume. Astronomy Is Awesome www.astronomyisawesome.com
10 Facts About Mercury
Source
http://astro...t-mercury/Category
ScienceGet a Quote