Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System. Its orbiting period around 87.97 days of sun is the smallest of all planets in the solar system.
Like Venus, Mercury revolves around the orbit of the Sun in the form of an inferior planet, and never seen more than 28 ° from the Sun when viewed from Earth. Proximity to the Sun means that the planet can be seen only in the evening or in the morning near the western or eastern horizon. At this time it can appear as a bright star-like object, but it is often more difficult to observe than Venus.
Mercury Planet
Mercury is closed with the Sun in 3: 2 spin-orbit echo and rotates in a unique way in the solar system. As seen in relation to fixed stars, it rotates three times on its axis for every two revolutions that occur around the Sun. As seen from the sun, in a frame of reference that revolves with orbital motion, it appears to rotate only once every two Mercury years. A supervisor on Mercury will therefore only appear one day in every two Mercury years.
Mercury’s axis has the smallest inclination of any planet in the Solar System (about 1 axis30 degrees). Its orbital singularity is the largest of all known planets in the Solar System; In Perhihliyan, the distance from Mercury to Sun is only two-thirds (or 66%). The surface of Mercury appears in a heavy pit and is similar to the Moon’s appearance, indicating that it is geographically inactive for billions of years. There is almost no atmosphere to maintain heat, it has surface temperatures which are completely different in comparison to any other planet in the solar system, from 100 (3173 ° C; 80280 ° F) to 700 in the night K (427 ° C); 800 ° F during the day in equatorial regions) The polar regions are consistently below 180 K (regions93 ° C; ° 136 ° F). The planet has no known natural satellite.
Two space missions have been merged: Mariner 10 flew in 1974 and 1975; And the MESSENGER, launched in 2004, which revolves around 4,000 times before winding up its fuel and crashing into the planet’s surface on April 30, 2015. BepiColombo spacecraft plans to reach Mercury in 2025.
Formation of Mercury
Theories for the formation of Mercury have been developed to explain its unusually large metal-to-silicate ratio compared to Earth and Mars. These principles generally fall into one of the two categories; The difference in the removal or structure of silicate, from which Mercury is composed of other solar system bodies. Two physical models invite evaporation of the surface by one or more of the massive effects (left) or hot solar nebula to remove the planet’s original crust and outer mantle. Chemical models describe the material from which Mercury is manufactured, for example, refractory compaction or primitive forward substances (right). The construction of primitive material, similar to some forms of the Chandric meteorites, corresponds to the GRS measurement.
Atmosphere of Mercury
With a combined pressure level of approximately 10-14 times (1 NPA), hydrogen, helium, oxygen, sodium, calcium, potassium and water vapor containing mercury have a very difficult and high variable atmosphere (surface-bound exosphere). Solar light pushes atmospheric gases away from the sun, which creates a comet-like tail behind the planet.
Before 1974 the existence of Mercurian environment had become controversial, although by that time there was a consensus that there was not enough atmosphere in the Mercury Planet like the Moon.
Surface of Mercury
Mercury surface is married to an impressive number of craters. Due to lack of environment, catering is more profound than most terrestrial planets. Dense atmospheres would have slowed the affected bodies, which would make the crews more shallow.
Image Source: jpl.nasa.gov
The surface of Mercury exhibits some amazing extremes. The temperature can be up to an amazing 590K. While the planet is closest to the sun, there are places which are dark enough to keep ice in water and ten outer parts have water. In addition, this is the smallest planet by surface area, but it is also one of the most dense. 42% of the planet’s volume is its main part.
It is believed that the surface of Mercury is geologically inert and has been for billions of years. The telescopic observation has shown areas with very different reflectivity. This indicates that the surface of Mercury has Doras (ridges), Highlands, montes (mountain), planitiae (plains), rupees (aspiration), and vales (valleys). During the Late heavy bombardment period 3.8 billion years ago, Mercury was heavily bombarded by asteroids and comets. During this period, the planet received various effects on its entire surface. Data from Messenger shows a very intriguing, contrasting surface.
Size, Mass and Orbit
With the average radius of 2440 km and the mass of 3.3022 × 1023 kilograms, Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system – equivalent to 0.38 Earth in size. And while it is smaller than the largest natural satellites in our system – such as Ganymede and Titan – it is much larger. In fact, the density of Mercury (at 5.427 g / cm3) is the second highest in the solar system, which is slightly lower than the Earth (5.515 g / cm3).
The Solar System has the most eccentric orbit of any planet in Mercury (0.205). For this reason, its distance from Sun to 46 million km (29 million miles) varies between its nearest (perihelion) to 70 million km (43 million miles) between your distant (apathy). And with the average orbital velocity of 47.362 km / s (29.429 mi/sec), it takes 87.969 Earth days to merge to complete a single class.
With an average rotational speed of 10.892 km / h (6.768 mph), Mercury also takes 58.646 days to complete a single rotation. This means that there is a resonance of a spin-orbit of Mercury 3: 2. Which means that it completes three turns on its axis for every two turns around the sun. However, this does not mean that on three days Mercury is two years old.
In fact, its high singularity and slow rotation mean that the Sun takes 176 Earth days to return to the same place in the sky. This means that on Mercury one day is twice in a year. Mercury has the lowest axial inclination of any planet in the Solar System – about 0.027 degrees compared to Jupiter’s 3.1 degrees (second largest).
How Long is Day on Mercury?
Mercury is one of the most unusual planets in our solar system, at least by the standards of privileged segregation. Despite being the closest planet to our Sun, it is not the hottest (this honor goes to Venus). And due to its near non-existence environment and slow rotation, the temperature on its surface ranges from very hot to extremely cold.
Equally unusual is the urinal cycle on Mercury – that is, the cycle of day and night. A single year lasts only for 88 days on Mercury. But again thanks to its slow rotation, it lasts twice a day. This means that if you can stand on the surface of Mercury, then 176 Earth days will take the sun’s rise. It will happen and once again to reach the same place in the sky!
How Long is a Year on Mercury?
Mercury is a planet of extremity. As the closest planet to our Sun, it experiences extreme temperatures. But since there is no atmosphere to speak about it, and it rotates very slowly on its axis. So it rotates between very hot and cold. It also means that the sun-facing side feels for a long time. While its dark side experiences long hours of the night.
It also means proximity to the Sun that it revolves around the planet very fast. To break it, Mercury takes about 88 Earth days to complete a single orbit around the Sun. Between this intense orbital period and its slower rotational period, one year is actually less than one day on Mercury!
