In Roman mythology, Mercury is the name of the god of commerce and the messenger of the gods, but when speaking of planets, this name also refers to the first planet in our Solar System. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are known as the four inner planets of the Solar System, but there is still a lot we do not know about it. However, thanks to scientists, we have discovered some interesting facts that perhaps you might not know about this planet. Check them out below.
The smallest planet: Except for the dwarf planets, Mercury is the smallest in the Solar System, with a diameter of only 4,879 kilometers. To have a better idea of its size, it is possible to compare it to the size of the Earth, approximately 12,742 kilometers, so that is equivalent to 38% of the diameter of our planet. In other words, it takes three Mercuries to achieve the size of the Earth. However, there are many other differences. According to researches, this planet is becoming less and less voluminous.
It is the second hottest planet: although it is the closest planet to the Sun and one would assume it is the hottest, Venus is actually the hottest planet in the solar system. That is because Mercury does not have an atmosphere to regulate its temperature, so during the day it can get as hot as 427 °C, but because it does not retain that heat, temperatures can go below 100 °C. On the other hand, Venus does have an atmosphere that is composed mainly of carbon dioxide and thick clouds of sulfuric acid that attract the heat released by the planet, keeping an average temperature of 462 °C at all times.
It is the fastest to go around the Sun: Mercury is closest to the Sun, so its rotation speed is greater than any other planet’s and therefore, it also travels a shorter distance. Its orbital velocity is 47 kilometers per second, while Neptune, which is the farthest planet from the Sun, has an orbital velocity of 5.4 kilometers per second.
Because of that, Mercury also has the shortest translational movement in the Solar System, taking a total of 88 Earth days to take a complete turn around the Sun, 4 times more than Earth. So, a 20-year-old human on Earth would be 80 years old in Mercury.
In mercury it dawns twice in a day: someone located in certain zones in Mercury can appreciate this incredible phenomenon, in which the Sun rises in the horizon, then stops, returns to where it rose, and again appears in the sky to continue its journey.
It is the planet with the most craters in the Solar System: this is due to numerous collisions of meteorites and comet. The largest on its surface is Caloris, a crater discovered in 1974 with a total of 1,550 kilometers of diameter.
Undoubtedly, it is a fascinating planet and although it’s not the best to live, it is still being studied to understand the evolution of our galaxy.
ALFA