BOGOR RADAR – Mercury is the planet that has the most ‘mini’ size in the solar system. This planet is also the planet that has the closest distance to the center of the solar system, namely the Sun.
Reporting from NASA’s Solar System Exploration, the planet Mercury is slightly larger than the Moon. The sun’s light emitted on Mercury is seven times brighter than Earth’s. The size of the Sun from this planet looks three times bigger than Earth.
In fact, the planet Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system. Even though it is the closest to the sun, Venus is the hottest planet.
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Quoted from NASA’s Space Place, Mercury is a rocky planet that has a solid surface filled with craters, a thin atmosphere, has no natural satellites, and rings. Below are some unique facts about this ‘mini’ planet.
Uninhabitable by Humans
The atmosphere of this mini planet is relatively thin and consists only of oxygen (O2), sodium (Na), hydrogen (H2), helium (He), and potassium (K). This makes humans unable to breathe on the planet.
Mercury also has high solar radiation accompanied by very extreme temperatures. Daytime on Mercury can get up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit or about 430 degrees Celsius. At night, the temperature drops drastically to 290 degrees Fahrenheit or the equivalent of minus 180 degrees Celsius.
Fastest Planet
Mercury is the planet that has the lowest solar revolution travel time. Its speed is nearly 29 miles (47 kilometers) per second. This is obvious because it is closest to the Sun.
One year on Mercury is equivalent to 88 days on Earth. So, if you live on Mercury, you can celebrate a birthday every three months.
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Mercury’s name is taken from one of the Roman gods
Quoted from Universe Today, this mini planet which is close to the Sun has a name that comes from one of the Roman gods and is the god worshiped by Ancient Greek traders for success in their trading activities.
It is equated with a god Hermes also known as messenger.
Initially, the Ancient Greeks thought Mercury consisted of two separate planets. They call Mercury in the morning by designations Apollo. At sunset, they call Mercury with Hermes.
In the 4th century BC, the opinion of the Ancient Greeks was broken by the opinion of ancient astronomers who said that Apollo and Hermes are one and the same planet.
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Planets NASA Has Visited
The first aircraft to successfully cross Mercury was Mariner 10 and was launched on November 3, 1973 until contact was lost on March 24, 1975. Mariner 10 has a single mission to explore Venus and Mercury. The plane also managed to launch 2,700 images after flying close to Mercury three times.
Another probe that has successfully explored Mercury is MESSENGER which was launched on August 3, 2004 and lost contact on April 30, 2015. In completing their mission, they successfully orbited Mercury, that is, and determined the composition of Mercury’s surface, uncovered its geological history, discovered details about its internal magnetic field, and verified that Mercury’s polar deposits are dominated by water ice.
Currently, BepiColombo, which was launched on October 20 2018, has an international mission to orbit Mercury. This aircraft is an international mission of two space probes. (jpg)
Editor: Yosep/Nurul-Magang
2023-07-20 04:47:00
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