The Mercury (2024)

FAQs

What are some questions about Mercury? ›

Why is Mercury the closest planet to the sun? Why is Mercury a terrestrial planet? Who is the planet Mercury named after? Where was the planet Mercury discovered?

On its sunny side, Mercury can reach a scorching 800 degrees Fahrenheit! (But Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system. The hottest planet is Venus.) On its dark side, Mercury gets very cold because it has almost no atmosphere to hold in heat and keep the surface warm.

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Mercury / Length of day

Mercury is the only metal on earth that is liquid at room temperature. Liquid mercury is so slippery that it will fall your skin if you try to hold it. It is so heavy that 2 tablespoons of mercury weighs about one pound! What happens when someone gets mercury poisoning?

Mercury is the second densest planet, after Earth. It has a large metallic core with a radius of about 1,289 miles (2,074 kilometers), about 85% of the planet's radius. There is evidence that it is partly molten or liquid.

Mercury's surface can be as hot as 800 degrees F during the daytime and as cold as -300 degrees F during the nighttime. (But Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system. The hottest planet is Venus.)

Mercury's diameter is 3,030 miles (4,878 km), comparable to the size of the continental United States. This makes it about two-fifths the size of Earth. It is smaller than Jupiter's moon Ganymede and Saturn's moon Titan.

Mercury is non-combustible. The agent itself does not burn, but it may react upon heating to produce corrosive and/or toxic fumes. Fire will produce irritating, corrosive, and/or toxic gases. Use an extinguishing agent suitable for the type of surrounding fire.

With its extreme temperature fluctuations, Mercury is not likely a planet that humans would ever want to colonize.

What is Mercury made of? ›

The planet is terrestrial, meaning that it has a solid surface and is mainly made of silicate rocks or metals. The planet Mercury is mainly made up of iron.

Mercury's year (one lap around the Sun) is about 88 Earth-days long. A solar day on Mercury is actually twice as long as its year, or about 176 Earth-days long. This is because of the slow rotation of Mercury around its own axis (e.g., when compared to Earth's rotation).

The planet isn't yellow or red as it's often depicted in books. Mercury's color is actually light gray! NASA discovered this thanks to the MESSENGER spacecraft, launched in 2004. Its mission was to study Mercury's chemical composition, geology, and magnetic fields.

For a long time, researchers have known that Mercury shrunk over the course of billions of years. New research shows that this is still going on. As the interior of Mercury continues to cool, the planet contracts, and the surface starts to wrinkle over itself.

Mercury has no moons or rings.

Scientists are still trying to understand how the Solar System formed, and one of the ways they do so is by comparing the planets. Interesting to note about Mercury: it has no rings or moons, which makes it different from just about every other planet in our Solar System.