Fast Facts about Mercury:
Orbit around the sun: 87.969 earth days
Rotation: 58.6461 earth days
Mass: 5% of earth
Volume: 5% of earth
Distance from sun: 57 million kilometers
Maximum temperature: 465 degrees celcius
Minimum temperature: -184 degrees celcius
Atmosphere: hydrogen and helium
Diameter: 4876 kilometers
Number of moons: 0
What Mercury means...
In astronomy mythology, Mercury was the Roman version of the Greek god Hermes. He was the messenger for the other gods, and for this reason Mercury is often depicted in pictures with winged sandals. In addition to delivering messages, he was also the protector of travelers and merchants.
Interesting facts...
Mercury has no atmosphere and that has a huge effect on the planet's surface and temperature. Mercury's surface is very similar to our moon's surface. It has many craters of all sizes. These are caused by the many meteorites and asteroids that hit the planet. The asteroids hit the planet because it has almost no atmosphere to protect it. Because Mercury has almost no atmosphere, its temperature change from night to day is over 1,000 degrees. That's greater than the temperature change on any other planet! Since Mercury is very close to the sun, the temperature gets very hot during the day (750 degrees fahrenheit), but since there is no atmosphere to hold in the heat during the long nights, the temperature drops to -300 degrees fahrenheit at night. That is colder than the coldest temperature anywhere on earth!
Mercury is an amazing planet. Although it is the second smallest planet, it is heavier than Mars and about the same weight as Earth. The reason for Mercury being so heavy is its massive core of molten iron. This core is about 2,250 miles across. Above this core is a layer of squeezed molten rock. This is similar to the lava that erupts from volcanoes on Earth. On top of that is a large, rocky surface. It is one of only four planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) with rocky surfaces. One Mercury day (the time it takes Mercury to spin once on its axis) is 59 Earth days long. That means that each Mercury year is only about one and a half Mercury days long!
Link:
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/mercury.htm
Orbit around the sun: 87.969 earth days
Rotation: 58.6461 earth days
Mass: 5% of earth
Volume: 5% of earth
Distance from sun: 57 million kilometers
Maximum temperature: 465 degrees celcius
Minimum temperature: -184 degrees celcius
Atmosphere: hydrogen and helium
Diameter: 4876 kilometers
Number of moons: 0
What Mercury means...
In astronomy mythology, Mercury was the Roman version of the Greek god Hermes. He was the messenger for the other gods, and for this reason Mercury is often depicted in pictures with winged sandals. In addition to delivering messages, he was also the protector of travelers and merchants.
Interesting facts...
Mercury has no atmosphere and that has a huge effect on the planet's surface and temperature. Mercury's surface is very similar to our moon's surface. It has many craters of all sizes. These are caused by the many meteorites and asteroids that hit the planet. The asteroids hit the planet because it has almost no atmosphere to protect it. Because Mercury has almost no atmosphere, its temperature change from night to day is over 1,000 degrees. That's greater than the temperature change on any other planet! Since Mercury is very close to the sun, the temperature gets very hot during the day (750 degrees fahrenheit), but since there is no atmosphere to hold in the heat during the long nights, the temperature drops to -300 degrees fahrenheit at night. That is colder than the coldest temperature anywhere on earth!
Mercury is an amazing planet. Although it is the second smallest planet, it is heavier than Mars and about the same weight as Earth. The reason for Mercury being so heavy is its massive core of molten iron. This core is about 2,250 miles across. Above this core is a layer of squeezed molten rock. This is similar to the lava that erupts from volcanoes on Earth. On top of that is a large, rocky surface. It is one of only four planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) with rocky surfaces. One Mercury day (the time it takes Mercury to spin once on its axis) is 59 Earth days long. That means that each Mercury year is only about one and a half Mercury days long!
Link:
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/mercury.htm