Mercury By Cordell

The discovery of mercury Mercury has been know sense ancient times. Mercury’s most famous founders were the Greeks and the Romans. The planet was discovered when a philosopher looked into the sky at dawn and at dusk and saw a small plant close to the sun.

Myths about mercury the Greeks called mercury Apollo when it appeared in the mourning and Hermes when it appeared in the evening. Mercury was the messenger of the gods. It was most likely given this name because of how fast it moves across the sky.

Facts about mercury At perihelion (closest point to sun) mercury is 46 million km. At aphelion (farthest point from sun) mercury is 70 million km. Mercury rotates every 59 earth days, due its position near the sun, one mercury day lasts 179 earth days.

Other facts Mercury is a celestial object. It is the closest planet to the sun. Mercury is composed of a large iron core and a rocky layer as the crust. Mercury’s diameter is 3032 miles ( a third of earth’s diameter.

The atmosphere Mercury is dry, extremely hot and almost airless. Planet Mercury is too small for its gravity to retain any significant atmosphere over long periods of time. The weak atmosphere contains hydrogen, helium, oxygen, sodium, calcium and potassium

The Temperature Mercury is a planet of extreme temperature variations. It is hotter on Venus, but with less fluctuations. The temperature on the planet may reach 450 degrees C (840 degrees F) during the day. But at night, the temperature may drop as low as -170 degrees C (-275 degrees F). The sunlight on Mercury’s surface is 6.5 times as intense as it is on Earth due its closeness to the sun.

The surface The surface of Mercury consists of cratered terrain and smooth plains and many deep craters similar to those on the moon. The craters formed when meteors or small comets crashed into the planet. The largest known crater is Caloris Basin, with a diameter of 1300 km (800 miles).

Mercury’s orbit Mercury has a very elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit. Mercury is not easily seen from Earth due to its small angular separation from the Sun. Mercury moves around the sun faster than any other planet. Mercury travels about 48 km (30 miles) per second and it takes 88 Earth days to orbit the sun.

Work cited "mercury." www.aerospaceguide.net N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.

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