Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun (the first planet in the Solar System).
Mercury belongs to the terrestrial planets and is named after the ancient Roman god of commerce. Mercury has no natural satellites. Has a very rarefied atmosphere.
Mercury has been known to humans since ancient times.
Mercury's only neighbor is Venus.
Mercury has a large iron core, which makes up 83% of the volume and 60% of the planet's mass and is the source of the magnetic field.
The core of Mercury is surrounded by a silicate mantle about 550 kilometers thick. The thickness of the planet's crust ranges from 100 to 300 kilometers.
The surface of Mercury is dotted with impact craters from the impact of meteorites and comets and resembles the surface of the Moon.
Due to its close proximity to the Sun, Mercury is difficult to observe from the Earth's surface.
Orbit of mercury
The average distance of Mercury from the Sun is just under 58 million kilometers (0.38 astronomical units).
The planet makes one revolution around the Sun in 88 Earth days.
The average speed of movement of Mercury in orbit is 48 kilometers per second.
Perihelion (orbital point closest to the Sun): 46 million kilometers (0.31 astronomical units).
Aphelios (orbital point farthest from the Sun): 69.8 million kilometers (0.47 astronomical units).
The length of a day on Mercury is 58.65 Earth times.
Physical characteristics of Mercury
Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system.
The radius of Mercury is only 2,440 kilometers (38% of the Earth's radius), which is less than the radius of Ganymede (satellite of Jupiter) and Titan (satellite of Saturn).
The temperature on the surface of Mercury ranges from −190 ° C to + 430 ° C. The solar side warms up much more than the polar regions and the far side of the planet.
Mercury has a magnetic field, the strength of which is about 100 times less than the earth's.
Mercury is the second densest (after Earth) planet in the solar system.
The acceleration due to gravity on Mercury is 3.7 meters per second squared (0.377 g).
The surface area of Mercury is 74,797,000 square kilometers (approximately 14.7% of the Earth's surface).
The mass of Mercury is 3.3010 x 10 x 23 kilograms, which is about 5.5% of the mass of the Earth.
