Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system, but it also has one of the most interesting facts. The name Mercury comes from a god in Roman mythology. This planet orbits close to the sun and rotates on its axis three times for every two orbits around it. One of the many facts about mercury that you will learn here is that there are no rivers or lakes on Mercury because any water would quickly evaporate due to low atmospheric pressure!
Facts About Mercury
Some of these facts might be surprising such as how dense Mercury is because it has a radius size of just 2440 km which means that if an object was dropped from any height onto its surface then gravity would cause them to fall at speeds up to 35 m/s or 199 mph!
Of all of the planets in our solar system, Mercury is closest in size to Earth which means that it has the most similar surface gravity.
The planet orbits closest to the Sun, which makes it incredibly hot there. In fact, the temperature on Mercury has been known to reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit!
More Facts About Mercury Planet
Another interesting fact is that there are only a few craters on Mercury’s surface because it almost never experiences impacts from asteroids or comets. And if an asteroid did impact there then you would be able to see traces of its path in space for up to 45 years before they disappeared completely!
Mercury is known as a terrestrial planet, meaning that it is small and solid. However, Mercury’s density has led scientists to believe that there must be a large metal core at the center of planet Mercury.
In 1988, NASA sent an unmanned probe to orbit around the planet for 24 hours before crashing into its surface in order to gain information about the topography and composition of Mercury. They found out facts like where water might have been present once on this scorching hot world!
Mercury facts are fascinating because they reveal so much about our solar system – what could life be like if you lived on this hot ball? What would happen if your space suit burst open?!
Mercury doesn’t have any moons, but it does have a magnetic field that’s about as strong as Earth’s.
The only planets in our solar system with no moon are Venus and Mercury.
Mercury facts include information on its distance from the sun, how long one year lasts there (88 days) and what makes Mercury so interesting to astronomers.
One of the most fascinating facts is that we know more about Mercury than any other planet!
We’re lucky because this hot rocky world has been visited by seven space probes over the last 50 years!
What does the saying ‘Mercury in retrograde’ mean?
This saying is from astrology, and it just means that Mercury appears to be moving backwards for a short period of time.
It has been used to describe when things don’t seem to be going the way you want them too, or if a plan of yours doesn’t work out.
Mercury Polar Ice Caps
One of these facts that I find very interesting is that the planet Mercury has huge amounts of ice at its poles!
This ice formed on Mercury’s poles when there was still water on the planet, and there is a lot of ice at these poles!
Mercury’s surface is covered by lava or dark volcanic rock that usually appears red like Mars’ famous “Red Planet”. No other planet in our Solar System looks like this except Earth because it also had volcanoes early on but they have since cooled down to form rocks now.
Mercury’s orbit around the sun takes 88 days so one year lasts just over two weeks long!
One more fun little tidbit about these planets with shorter orbits like ours is how fast they spin! Planets closer to our Sun rotate much faster than ones farther out, like Mars or Pluto. So not only do they have a shorter orbit, they are also spinning at a much higher speed.
We can recommend the best telescope for viewing planets
