Mercury (planet)

From Encyc
Mercury Astronomical symbol of mercury
Mercury
Designations
PronunciationTemplate:IPA-en
AdjectivesMercurian,[1]
Orbital characteristics[4]
Epoch J2000
Aphelion69,816,900 km
0.466 697 AU
Perihelion46,001,200 km
0.307 499 AU
57,909,100 km
0.387 098 AU
Eccentricity0.205 630[2]
87.969 1 d
(0.240 846 a)
115.88 d[2]
47.87 km/s[2]
174.796°
Inclination7.005° to Ecliptic
3.38° to Sun’s equator
6.34° to Invariable plane[3]
48.331°
29.124°
Known satellitesNone diameter = 4,880 km
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
2,439.7 ± 1.0 km[5][6]
0.3829 Earths
Flattening< 0.0006[6]
7.48×10Template:Val/delimitnum km²
0.147 Earths[5]
Volume6.083×10Template:Val/delimitnum km³
0.054 Earths[5]
Mass3.3022×10Template:Val/delimitnum kg
0.055 Earths[5]
Mean density
5.427 g/cm³[5]
3.7 m/s²
0.38 g[5]
4.25 km/s[5]
58.646 day
1407.5 h[5]
Equatorial rotation velocity
10.892 km/h (3.026 m/s)
2.11′ ± 0.1′[7]
North pole right ascension
18 h 44 min 2 s
281.01°[2]
North pole declination
61.45°[2]
Albedo0.119 (bond)
0.106 (geom.)[2]
Surface temp. min mean max
0°N, 0°W 100 K 340 K 700 K
85°N, 0°W 80 K 200 K 380 K
up to −1.9[2]
4.5" – 13"[2]
Atmosphere
Composition by volume42% Molecular oxygen
29.0% sodium
22.0% hydrogen
6.0% helium
0.5% potassium
Trace amounts of argon, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, xenon, krypton, & neon[2]

Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System.[8][9][10] It is the closest planet to the sun.[11] It makes one trip around the Sun once every 87.969 days.[2][12] Mercury is bright when it is visible from Earth, ranging from −2.0 to 5.5 in apparent magnitude. It cannot be easily seen as it is usually too close to the Sun. Because Mercury is normally lost in the glare of the Sun, Mercury can only be seen in the morning or evening twilight[13] or during a solar eclipse.

Less is known about Mercury than about other planets of our Solar System. Telescopes on the Earth show only a small, bright crescent, and putting a satellite in orbit around it is difficult. The first of two spacecraft to visit the planet was Mariner 10,[14] which mapped only about 45% of the planet’s surface from 1974 to 1975. The second is the MESSENGER spacecraft, which finished mapping the planet in March 2013.

Mercury looks like Earth's Moon. It has many craters and areas of smooth plains, no moons around it and no atmosphere as we know it. However, Mercury does have an extremely thin atmosphere, known as an exosphere.[11] Unlike Earth's moon, Mercury has a large iron core, which gives off a magnetic field about 1% as strong as that of the Earth.[15] It is a very dense planet due to the large size of its core. Surface temperatures can be anywhere from about 90 to 700 K (−183 °C to 427 °C, −297 °F to 801 °F),[16] with the subsolar point being the hottest and the bottoms of craters near the poles being the coldest.

Known sightings of Mercury date back to at least the first millennium BC. Before the 4th century BC, Greek astronomers thought that Mercury was two different objects: one able to be seen only at sunrise, which they called Apollo; the other that was only able to be seen at sunset, which they called Hermes.[17] The English name for the planet is from the Romans, who named it after the Roman god Mercury, which they thought to be the same as the Greek god Hermes. The symbol for Mercury is based on Hermes' staff.[18]

Even though Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, it is not the warmest. This is because it has no greenhouse effect, so energy received from the Sun is radiated into space during Hermitian nights. The hottest planet, because of its greenhouse effect, is Venus.[19]

Spin-Orbit Coupling[edit]

Mercury was long considered to have a synchronous rotation, its orbital period being equal to its rotation period, as does the Moon. Radar studies by Pettengill and Dyce using the Arecibo Observatory of Cornell University showed in the 1960's, however, that it is locked in a 3:2 mode, the orbital period being 88 days whereas the rotational period being 59 days.

Inside Mercury[edit]

Mercury is one of four inner planets in the Solar System, <a href="https://factshungry.com/interesting-facts-of-mercury/amp/">mercury</a>, Venus, Earth, and Mars, and like these has a rocky body. With Pluto now demoted to minor planet status, Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System, with a radius of 2,439.7 km (1,516.0 mi).[2] Mercury is even smaller than some of the largest moons in the solar system, such as Ganymede and Titan. However, because these moons have a large water ice component, it has a greater mass than the largest moons in the solar system. Mercury is made of about 70% metallic and 30% silicate material.[20] Mercury's [[density]] is the second highest in the Solar System at 5.427 g/cm³, only a little bit less than Earth’s.[2] Some water ice has been detected on Sun-shielded sides of craters on Mercury.

Related pages[edit]

Planets[edit]

mercury ]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "Mercurian". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 "Mercury Fact Sheet". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. November 30, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
  3. ↑ "The MeanPlane (Invariable plane) of the Solar System passing through the barycenter". 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-04-03. (produced with Solex 10 written by Aldo Vitagliano; see also Invariable plane)
  4. ↑ Yeomans, Donald K. (April 7, 2008). "HORIZONS System". NASA JPL. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Munsell, Kirk; Smith, Harman; Harvey, Samantha (May 28, 2009). "Mercury: Facts & Figures". Solar System Exploration. NASA. Retrieved 2008-04-07.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Seidelmann, P. Kenneth; Archinal, B. A.; A’hearn, M. F.; et al. (2007). "Report of the IAU/IAGWorking Group on cartographic coordinates and rotational elements: 2006". Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy. 90: 155–180. doi:10.1007/s10569-007-9072-y. Retrieved 2007-08-28. Explicit use of et al. in: |author2= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Margot, L.J. (2007). Peale, S.J.; Jurgens, R.F.; Slade, M.A.; Holin, I.V. "Large Longitude Libration of Mercury Reveals a Molten Core". Science. 316: 710–714. doi:10.1126/science.1140514. PMID 17478713.
  8. ↑ "Mercury  l  Mercury facts, pictures and information". nineplanets.org. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved 7 March 2012. no-break space character in |title= at position 8 (help)
  9. ↑ "BBC Solar System - Mercury: A tortured world close to our blazing Sun". bbc.co.uk. 2012 [last update]. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  10. ↑ Pluto was once thought to be the smallest, but, as of 2006, Pluto is now known as a dwarf planet.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Murchie, Scott L.; Vervack Jr., Ronald J.; Anderson, Brian J. (March 2011), "Space Science: Journey to the Innermost Planet", Scientific American, New York, 304 (3), pp. 26–31
  12. ↑ [1]
  13. ↑ How it Works Book of Space. Imagine Publishing. 2010. p. 36-37. ISBN 9781906078829.
  14. ↑ [2]
  15. ↑ "Mercury magnetic field". C. T. Russell & J. G. Luhmann. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  16. ↑ "Background Science". European Space Agency. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  17. ↑ Dunne, J. A. and Burgess, E. (1978). "Chapter One". The Voyage of Mariner 10 — Mission to Venus and Mercury. NASA History Office.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ Duncan, John Charles (1946). Astronomy: A Textbook. Harper & Brothers. p. 125. The symbol for Mercury represents the Caduceus, a wand with two serpents twined around it, which was carried by the messenger of the gods.
  19. ↑ "CBBC Newsround". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 04, 2012. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. ↑ Strom, Strom, Robert G.; Sprague, Ann L. (2003). Exploring Mercury: The Iron Planet. p. 52. ISBN 1852337311.

Other websites[edit]

www.factshungry.com

www.solarviews.com

www.planetfacts.net

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