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Mercury is one of four terrestrial planets in the Solar System, which means it is a rocky body like Earth. It is the smallest planet in the Solar System, with an equatorial radius of 2,439.7 kilometres (1,516.0 mi). [4] Mercury is also smaller—albeit more massive—than the largest natural satellites in the Solar System, Ganymede and Titan.
Mercury is a chemical element; it has symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum ( / haɪˈdrɑːrdʒərəm / hy-DRAR-jər-əm) from the Greek words hydor (water) and argyros (silver), from which its chemical symbol is derived. [ 8]
Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's Moon. Its surface is covered in tens of thousands of impact craters. Despite its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is not the hottest planet in our solar system – that title belongs to nearby Venus, thanks to its dense atmosphere. But Mercury is the fastest planet, zipping around the Sun every 88 Earth ...
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Aug 6, 2024 · Mercury, the innermost planet of the solar system and the eighth in size and mass. Its closeness to the Sun and its smallness make it the most elusive of the planets visible to the unaided eye. Because its rising or setting is always within about two hours of the Sun’s, it is never observable when the sky is fully dark.
- Clark R. Chapman
- Mercury has a radius of about 2,440 km, and its surface area is 74,797,000 km2. Its mass is 3.30 × 1023 kg. Mercury is the smallest major planet in...
- Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system, and it is also the planet closest to the Sun, making it the most difficult of the planets to se...
- Mercury's average orbital distance from the Sun is 58 million km (36 million miles) and it has the shortest year (a revolution period of 88 days)....
- Two locations on Mercury’s equator are called hot poles, and surface temperatures there can exceed 700 kelvins (K; 800 °F, 430 °C). Surface tempera...
- Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, and Titan, a moon of Saturn, are both larger than Mercury, the smallest major planet.
Mercury is the second densest planet, after Earth. It has a large metallic core with a radius of about 1,289 miles (2,074 kilometers), about 85% of the planet's radius. There is evidence that it is partly molten or liquid. Mercury's outer shell, comparable to Earth's outer shell (called the mantle and crust), is only about 400 kilometers (250 ...
Aug 5, 2024 · Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. Mercury is a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky. Mercury has a thin exosphere. Mercury’s surface can be as hot as 800 degrees F during the daytime and as cold as -300 degrees F during the nighttime. (But Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system.
Jun 9, 2023 · Mercury speeds around the sun every 88 Earth days, traveling through space at nearly 112,000 mph (180,000 km/h), faster than any other planet. Its oval-shaped orbit is highly elliptical, taking ...
