JawaPos.com – Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system. Mercury is the first planet in the solar system that is closest to the sun. As the smallest planet, Mercury has some interesting facts.
Quoted from NASA’s Solar System Exploration, the size of the smallest planet Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth’s satellite, namely the Moon. On Mercury, the sun’s light will be felt up to about seven times brighter than Earth’s. From the surface of Mercury, the Sun also appears three times larger in size than from Earth.
However, the fact is that even as the smallest and closest planet to the Sun, Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system. The title is given to its neighboring planet, namely Venus.
Reporting 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. So, let’s take a look at some interesting facts summarized by JawaPos.com from various official sources.
Fastest Planet
Mercury is the fastest planet in the solar system because it has the shortest distance around the Sun. Its speed is nearly 29 miles (47 kilometers) per second.
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.
Uninhabitable by Humans
Humans can’t breathe on Mercury. Because this smallest planet has a very thin atmosphere. It consists of oxygen (O2), sodium (Na), hydrogen (H2), helium (He), and potassium (K).
In addition, Mercury also has high solar radiation and extreme temperatures. During the day, temperatures on Mercury can reach a very hot 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius). However, at night, the temperature can drop dramatically to minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 180 degrees Celsius).
Mercury’s name is taken from one of the Roman gods
Reporting from Universe Today, the smallest planet that can be seen with the naked eye has a name that comes from one of the Roman gods. The most swift god and was worshiped by the merchants of Ancient Greece for success in their trading transactions.
It is likened to the god Hermes who is also known as the messenger.
Initially, the ancient Greeks thought Mercury was two separate planets. When seen in the morning, they called Apollo. At sunset they call Hermes.
However, in the 4th century BC, ancient astronomers realized that the two objects were actually the same planet, and they stuck to the name Hermes. This name was later adopted by the Romans and the planet became known as Mercury.
Two Missions from NASA Have Visited Mercury
The first plane to cross Mercury, namely Mariner 10, was launched on November 3, 1973 and lost contact on March 24, 1975. Mariner 10 carried out a single mission exploring two planets at once, namely Mercury and Venus. During three close flights to Mercury, the craft managed to take more than 2,700 pictures.
The first probe to orbit Mercury, MESSENGER launched on August 3, 2004 and lost contact on April 30, 2015. During the mission, MESSENGER was able to determine the composition of Mercury’s surface, unravel its geological history, discover details about its internal magnetic field, and verify that polar deposits Mercury is dominated by water ice.
Currently, BepiColombo, which was launched on October 20 2018, is an international mission from two spacecraft that are on their way to Mercury for orbit.
2023-07-17 14:31:00
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