Mercury

[Robert TG]

This is a general information thread on the Planet Mercury.

Please feel free to add some facts or questions about this Planet.


Mercury is now the smallest of the 8 Planets (since Pluto is no longer considered a planet).

Mercury lies closest to the Sun (the average distance of 57.6 Million Kilometers from the Sun)

Mercury has no moons.

Mercury is a rocky planet with an iron core.



There are a lot more facts about Mercury...please add a few. :yesplease:

[Robert TG]

Mercury has a diameter of 4,878 km

[Robert TG]

Mercury is the planet that is closest to us most of the time. Venus is closer some of the time and at times Mars is closest. But most of the time Mercury is the closest planet to Earth.

The complete surface of Mercury has still not been photographed.


Mercury is the densest planet because it has a large iron core.

[Astro Dave]

Errr, Robert, I think you'll find Venus is the one which is the closest planet to the Earth.

This world, Mercury, has a fairly large iron core, in fact the planet is about 70% iron BUT for some unknown reason the planet has a weak magnetic field. Opposite to what you'd think.

Is the core liquid ... or solid, that's the puzzle.

[Robert TG]

Errr, Robert, I think you'll find Venus is the one which is the closest planet to the Earth.


What I said was..."Mercury is the planet that is closest to us most of the time."

Yes, Venus does comes the closest to Earth.

But when Venus is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earths point of view then Mercury is actually closer to Earth during Mercury’s complete orbit.

During their orbits, there are more days when Mercury is actually closer to Earth than is Venus. There are rarer times when Mars is closer to Earth than both Venus or Mercury.

It’s a surprising fact that gets your head spinning along with the planets.

Mercury is the planet that is closest to us most of the time. :duh:


example:
Earth to Venus distance range can be as close as 41 million km to as much as 257 Million km.
Earth to Mercury distance range can be as close as 90 Million km and as far as 198 Million km
Earth to Mars distance range can be as close as 78 Million kms and as far as 376 Million km.

[Radar]

The name Mercury got me thinking.


In Roman mythology Mercury is the god of commerce, travel and thievery, the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes, the messenger of the Gods. The planet probably received this name because it moves so quickly across the sky.

I love all the legends about astronomy.