| Mercury | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Description | |
| Distance from the Sun | 57.91 million km |
| Circumference | 15,327.83 km |
| Diameter: | 4,879 km |
| Radius: | 2,440 km |
| Temperature: | 431°C to -169°C |
| Known Moons | 0 |
| Day | 58 Days |
| Year | 88 Days |
Mercury is the innermost planet in the Solar System. It was named after Mercury, the roman messenger of the gods which they eqauted with Hermes, the greek messenger of the gods. It is the fastest planet in the Solar System, it orbits the Sun at just only 88 days.
Mythology[]
The Romans named the planet after the swift-footed Roman messenger god, Mercury (Latin Mercurius), which they equated with the Greek Hermes, because it moves across the sky faster than any other planet.
Orbit[]
The orbit of Mercury is the most eccentric of the planets in our Solar System. The planet has an orbital period of 87.969 Earth days.
Surface[]
The surface of Mercury is marred by an impressive number of craters. The cratering is deeper than on most terrestrial planets because of its lack of an atmosphere. A thicker atmosphere would have slowed impacting bodies, making the craters more shallow.
Exploration[]
This model of Mariner 10 shows the spacecraft as it appeared during flight.
Artist's impression of the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft in orbit at Mercury.
Two spacecraft have visited Mercury: Mariner 10 flew by in 1974 and 1975; and MESSENGER, launched in 2004, orbited Mercury over 4,000 times in four years, before exhausting its fuel and crashing into the planet's surface on April 30, 2015.