The diameter of the planet Mercury. The internal structure of the planet Mercury

Mercury is one of the planets in our solar system. It is less discussed, not much is known about it, but despite this, scientists do not cease to closely monitor it. It is difficult to imagine how many mysteries this planet holds, but there are interesting facts that have become known relatively recently.

Close to the sun

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. The distance between these two objects is no more than 58 million kilometers. In fact, in the cosmic dimension, this distance is nothing.

The smallest

Of the eight planets in the solar system, Mercury is the smallest. In comparison with the Earth, the diameter of its equator is three times smaller. However, this does not prevent the “baby” from entering the top five planets that can be seen with the naked eye in the night sky.

high density

Mercury is rightfully one of the densest planets in the solar system. It ranks second in density, second only to our Earth in this characteristic.

hilly surface

Due to the compression and cooling of the iron core of Mercury, its surface became wrinkled. Interestingly, the scarps, as astronomers call them, only look like wrinkles in superficial photographs. In fact, their height exceeds hundreds of kilometers.

On Mercury, eruptions of specific geysers periodically occur. They emit hydrogen, and have practically nothing to do with the earthly phenomenon familiar to us.

Warm where the sun warms

Despite its close proximity to the Sun, Mercury is not the hottest planet. The temperature of its atmosphere does not exceed 430 degrees Celsius, but only one side heats up. On the opposite surface, turned away from the Sun, the temperature drops to −180°C. The reduced density of the atmosphere makes it impossible to keep warm or cold, so there are sharp temperature changes. Interestingly, Venus takes the lead in terms of high temperature.

littered with craters

Mercury often had to deal with various kinds of comets and asteroids that left their mark on the planet. The place of collision with space objects is called craters, and those that exceed 250 kilometers in diameter are called basins. The largest basin of the "solar neighbor" is the "Plain of Heat" (Caloris), its diameter reaches about 1550 kilometers - a third of the diameter of the planet. It is difficult to imagine the impact force that caused the creation of the pool.

Guests from Earth

In the entire history of mankind, Mercury was visited by only two terrestrial objects, one of which is still in orbit ("Messenger"). It was launched on August 3, 2004. The second object is the interplanetary station Mariner 10, sent in 1974 to study Mercury. She managed to fly around the planet several times and transmit unique images to Earth.

No opener

It is still unknown who became the discoverer of Mercury. This planet is visible from Earth even without a telescope, which is probably why it was mentioned long before our era. One thing is known that the discovery happened precisely when a person became interested in the night sky and mysterious stars.

Atmosphere regeneration

Despite the strongest solar wind, the atmosphere on Mercury is still present. It is surprising that it is preserved under such influence of the Sun. Scientists explain this by the fact that the atmosphere of Mercury is able to regenerate, which is why it is kept on the planet.

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Mercury- the planet closest to the Sun (you will find general information about Mercury and other planets in Appendix 1) - the average distance from the Sun is 57,909,176 km. However, the distance from the Sun to Mercury can vary from 46.08 to 68.86 million km. The distance of Mercury from the Earth is from 82 to 217 million km. Mercury's axis is almost perpendicular to the plane of its orbit.

Due to the slight inclination of the axis of rotation of Mercury to the plane of its orbit, there are no noticeable seasonal changes on this planet. Mercury has no satellites.

Mercury is a small planet. Its mass is a twentieth of the mass of the Earth, and the radius is 2.5 times less than the earth's.

Scientists believe that in the center of the planet there is a large iron core - it accounts for 80% of the mass of the planet, and on top - a mantle of stone rocks.

For observations from the Earth, Mercury is a difficult object, since it always has to be observed against the background of the evening or morning dawn low above the horizon, and besides, at this time, the observer sees only half of its disk illuminated.

The first to explore Mercury was the American space probe Mariner 10, which in 1974-1975. flew past the planet three times. The maximum approach of this space probe to Mercury was 320 km.

The surface of the planet looks like a wrinkled apple peel, it is pitted with cracks, depressions, mountain ranges, the highest of which reach 2-4 km, sheer ledges-escarps 2-3 km high and hundreds of kilometers long. In a number of regions of the planet, valleys and craterless plains are visible on the surface. The average density of the soil is 5.43 g / cm 3.

On the studied hemisphere of Mercury there is the only flat place - the Heat Plain. It is assumed that this is a frozen lava that erupted from the depths after a collision with a giant asteroid about 4 billion years ago.

Atmosphere of Mercury

The atmosphere of Mercury has an extremely low density. It consists of hydrogen, helium, oxygen, calcium vapor, sodium and potassium (Fig. 1). The planet probably receives hydrogen and helium from the Sun, and metals evaporate from its surface. This thin shell can be called "atmosphere" only with a big stretch. The pressure at the surface of the planet is 500 billion times less than at the surface of the Earth (this is less than in modern vacuum installations on Earth).

General characteristics of the planet Mercury

The maximum surface temperature of Mercury, recorded by sensors, is +410 °C. The average temperature of the night hemisphere is -162 ° C, and the daytime +347 ° C (this is enough to melt lead or tin). Temperature differences due to the change of seasons caused by the elongation of the orbit reach 100 °C on the day side. At a depth of 1 m, the temperature is constant and equal to +75 ° C, because porous soil does not conduct heat well.

Organic life on Mercury is ruled out.

Rice. 1. The composition of the atmosphere of Mercury

The first photo of MESSENGER from Mercury's orbit, with the bright Debussy crater visible at upper right. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Characteristics of Mercury

Weight: 0.3302 x 1024 kg
Volume: 6.083 x 10 10 km 3
Average radius: 2439.7 km
Average diameter: 4879.4 km
Density: 5.427 g/cm3
Escape velocity (second escape velocity): 4.3 km/s
Surface Gravity: 3.7 m/s2
Optical magnitude: -0.42
Natural satellites: 0
Rings? - Not
Major axis: 57,910,000 km
Orbital period: 87.969 days
Perihelion: 46,000,000 km
Aphelion: 69,820,000 km
Average orbital speed: 47.87 km/s
Maximum orbital speed: 58.98 km/s
Minimum orbital speed: 38.86 km/s
Orbital inclination: 7.00°
Orbital eccentricity: 0.2056
Sidereal rotation period: 1407.6 hours
Day length: 4222.6 hours
Discovery: Known since prehistoric times
Minimum distance from Earth: 77,300,000 km
Maximum distance from Earth: 221,900,000 km
Maximum apparent diameter: 13 arc seconds
Minimum apparent diameter from Earth: 4.5 arcseconds
Maximum optical magnitude: -1.9

Mercury Size

How big is Mercury? surface area, volume and equatorial diameter. Surprisingly, it is also one of the densest. She acquired her title of "smallest" after Pluto was demoted. This is why the old accounts refer to Mercury as the second smallest planet. The above are the three criteria we will use to show .

Some scientists believe that Mercury is actually contracting. The liquid core of the planet occupies 42% of the volume. The rotation of the planet allows to cool a small part of the core. This cooling and contraction is believed to be evidenced by cracks in the planet's surface.

Much like , and the continued presence of these craters indicates that the planet has not been geologically active for billions of years. This knowledge is based on partial mapping of the planet (55%). It is unlikely to change even after MESSENGER maps the entire surface [ed. note: as of April 1, 2012]. The planet was most likely heavily bombarded by asteroids and comets during the Late Heavy Bombardment about 3.8 billion years ago. Some regions would be filled with magmatic eruptions from within the planet. These cratered smooth plains are similar to those found on the Moon. As the planet cooled, individual cracks and ravines formed. These features can be seen on top of other features which are a clear indication that they are new. Volcanic eruptions ceased on Mercury around 700-800 million years ago, when the planet's mantle contracted sufficiently to prevent lava flows.

The WAC image, showing a never-before-photographed region of Mercury's surface, was taken from an altitude of about 450 km above Mercury. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Mercury diameter (and radius)

The diameter of Mercury is 4,879.4 km.

Need a way to compare it to something more similar? The diameter of Mercury is only 38% of the diameter of the Earth. In other words, you could fit almost 3 Mercurys side by side to match the Earth's diameter.

In fact, there are those that have a larger diameter than Mercury. The largest moon in the solar system is Jupiter's moon Ganymede, with a diameter of 5.268 km, and the second largest moon is , with a diameter of 5.152 km.

Earth's moon is only 3,474 km in diameter, so Mercury isn't much larger.

If you want to calculate the radius of Mercury, you need to divide the diameter in half. Since the diameter is 4,879.4 km, the radius of Mercury is 2,439.7 km.

Diameter of Mercury in kilometers: 4,879.4 km
Diameter of Mercury in miles: 3,031.9 miles
Radius of Mercury in kilometers: 2,439.7 km
Radius of Mercury in miles: 1,516.0 miles

Circumference of Mercury

The circumference of Mercury is 15.329 km. In other words, if Mercury's equator were perfectly flat and you could drive a car over it, your odometer would add 15.329 km to travel.

Most planets are spheroids compressed at the poles, so their equatorial circumference is greater than from pole to pole. The faster they rotate, the more flattened the planet is, so the distance from the center of the planet to its poles is shorter than the distance from the center to the equator. But Mercury rotates so slowly that its circumference doesn't depend on where you measure it.

You can calculate the circumference of Mercury yourself using classic math formulas to get the circumference of a circle.

Circumference = 2 x Pi x radius

We know that the radius of Mercury is 2,439.7 km. So if you plug these numbers into: 2 x 3.1415926 x 2439.7 you get 15.329 km.

Circumference of Mercury in kilometers: 15.329 km
Circumference of Mercury in miles: 9.525 km

Crescent of Mercury.

Volume of Mercury

The volume of Mercury is 6.083 x 10 10 km 3 . It seems like a huge number, but Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system by volume (downgraded to Pluto). It is even smaller than some of the moons in our solar system. The volume of Mercury is only 5.4% of the volume of the Earth, and the Sun is 240.5 million times larger than Mercury in volume.

More than 40% of the volume of mercury is occupied by its core, to be exact 42%. The core has a diameter of about 3,600 km. This makes Mercury the second densest planet among our eight. The core is molten and mostly iron. The molten core can produce a magnetic field that helps reflect the solar wind. The planet's magnetic field and negligible gravity allows it to maintain a negligible atmosphere.

It is believed that Mercury was at one time the larger planet; therefore, had a larger volume. There is one theory to explain its current size that many scientists have accepted on several levels. The theory explains the density of mercury and the high percentage of matter in the core. The theory states that Mercury originally had a ratio of metals to silicates similar to ordinary meteorites, as is characteristic of rocky matter in our solar system. At the time, the planet is believed to have had a mass of about 2.25 times its current mass, but early in the Solar System's history it was hit by a planetesimal that was 1/6th of its mass and several hundred kilometers in diameter. The impact scraped away much of the original crust and mantle, leaving the core as most of the planet and greatly reducing the planet's volume.

Volume of Mercury in cubic kilometers: 6.083 x 10 10 km 3 .

Mass of Mercury
The mass of Mercury is only 5.5% of the earth's mass; actual value 3.30 x 10 23 kg. Since Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system, you would expect it to be a relatively small mass. On the other hand, Mercury is the second densest planet in our solar system (after Earth). Given its size, the density comes mostly from the core, estimated at nearly half the planet's volume.

The mass of the planet is made up of substances that are 70% metallic and 30% silicate. There are several theories to explain why the planet is so dense and rich in metallic substances. Most of the widely supported theories support that a high core percentage is the result of an impact. In this theory, the planet originally had a ratio of metals to silicates similar to the chondrite meteorites common in our Solar System and 2.25 times its current mass. Early in the history of our universe, Mercury hit a planetesimal-sized impact object that was 1/6 of Mercury's hypothetical mass and hundreds of kilometers in diameter. An impact of this magnitude would have scraped away much of the crust and mantle, leaving a huge core. Scientists believe that a similar incident created our moon. An additional theory says that the planet formed before the Sun's energy stabilized. The planet had a much larger mass in this theory, but the temperatures created by the protosun would have been very high, around 10,000 Kelvin, and most of the rock on the surface would have been vaporized. The rock vapor could then be blown away by the solar wind.

Mass of Mercury in kilograms: 0.3302 x 1024 kg
Mass of Mercury in pounds: 7.2796639 x 1023 pounds
Mass of Mercury in metric tons: 3.30200 x 1020 tons
Mass of Mercury in tons: 3.63983195 x 10 20

An artist's conception of a MESSENGER in orbit around Mercury. Credit: NASA

Mercury's gravity

Mercury's gravity is 38% of Earth's gravity. A person weighing 980 Newtons (about 220 pounds) on Earth would only weigh 372 Newtons (83.6 pounds) landing on the surface of the planet. Mercury is only slightly larger than our Moon, so you can expect gravity to be similar to the moon's 16% of Earth's. The Big Difference in Mercury's Higher Density - It is the second densest planet in the Solar System. In fact, if Mercury were the same size as the Earth, it would be even denser than our own planet.

It is important to clarify the difference between mass and weight. Mass is a measure of how much substance something contains. Therefore, if you have 100 kg of mass on Earth, you have the same amount on Mars, or in intergalactic space. Weight, however, is the gravitational force you feel. Although bathroom scales measure in pounds or kilograms, they should actually measure in newtons, which are a measure of weight.

Take your current weight in either pounds or kilograms and then multiply by 0.38 on the calculator. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you would weigh 57 pounds on Mercury. If you weigh 68 kg on a floor scale, your weight on Mercury would be 25.8 kg.

You can also flip this number to figure out how much stronger you would be. For example, how high you could jump, or how much weight you could lift. The current high jump world record is 2.43 meters. Divide 2.43 by 0.38 and you would have a world high jump record if it were reached on Mercury. In this case, it would be 6.4 meters.

In order to avoid Mercury's gravity, you need to move at a speed of 4.3 km/s, or about 15,480 km/h. Compare this to Earth, where the escape velocity (ESV) of our planet is 11.2 km/s. If you compare the ratio between two planets, you get 38%.

Gravity on the surface of Mercury: 3.7 m/s 2
Escape velocity (second space velocity) of Mercury: 4.3 km/s

Density of Mercury

The density of Mercury is the second highest in the Solar System. Earth is the only denser planet. It is equal to 5.427 g/cm 3 compared to the earth's density of 5.515 g/cm 3 . If gravitational contraction were removed from the equation, Mercury would be denser. The high density of the planet is a sign of a large percentage of the core. The core makes up 42% of the total volume of Mercury.

Mercury is a terrestrial planet like Earth, only one of four in our solar system. Mercury has about 70% metallic substances and 30% silicates. Add in the density of Mercury and scientists can deduce the details of its internal structure. While the high density of the Earth is largely responsible for the gravitational contraction at the core, Mercury is much smaller and not as much compressed internally. These facts have led NASA scientists and others to speculate that its core must be large and contain crushing amounts of iron. Planetary geologists estimate that the planet's molten core comprises about 42% of its volume. On Earth, the core occupies 17%.

Internal structure of Mercury.

This leaves the silicate mantle only 500-700 kkm thick. Data from Mariner 10 led scientists to believe that the crust is even thinner, on the order of 100-300 km. The mantle surrounds the core, which has more iron than any other planet in the solar system. So what caused this disproportionate amount of core matter? Most scientists accept the theory that Mercury had a ratio of metals to silicates similar to common meteorites - chondrites - several billion years ago. They also believe that it had a mass of 2.25 times its current mass; however, Mercury may have hit a planetesimal 1/6 the mass of Mercury and hundreds of kilometers in diameter. The impact would have scraped away much of the original crust and mantle, leaving a larger percentage of the planet at the core.

While scientists have a few facts about Mercury's density, there are more to be discovered. Mariner 10 sent back a lot of information, but was able to study only 44% of the planet's surface. fills in the gaps on the map as you read this article, and the BepiColumbo mission will go further in expanding our knowledge of this planet. Soon, more theories will emerge to explain the high density of the planet.

Density of Mercury in grams per cubic centimeter: 5.427 g/cm 3 .

Axis of Mercury

Like all planets in the Solar System, Mercury's axis is tilted from . In this case, the axial tilt is 2.11 degrees.

What exactly is the axial tilt of the planet? First imagine that the Sun is a ball in the middle of a flat disc, like a vinyl disc or CD. The planets are in orbit around the Sun inside this disk (larger or smaller). This disk is known as the plane of the ecliptic. Each planet also rotates on its own axis when it is in orbit around the sun. If the planet rotated perfectly straight up and down, then this line through the north and south poles of the planet would be perfectly parallel with the poles of the Sun, the planet would have an axial tilt of 0 degrees. Of course, none of the planets has such an inclination.

So if you were to draw a line between the north and south poles of Mercury and compare it to an imaginary line, Mercury would have no axial tilt at all, that angle would be 2.11 degrees. You might be surprised to know that Mercury's tilt is the smallest of all the planets in the solar system. For example, the tilt of the Earth is 23.4 degrees. And Uranus is generally turned upside down on its axis and rotates with an axial inclination of 97.8 degrees.

Here on Earth, the axial tilt of our planet causes the seasons. When it is summer in the northern hemisphere, the north pole is tilted outward. You get more sunlight in the summer, so it's warmer, and less in the winter.

Mercury does not experience any seasons. Due to the fact that it has almost no axial tilt. Of course, it doesn't have much of an atmosphere to keep the sun warm. Any side facing the Sun heats up to 700 Kelvin, while the side away from the Sun has temperatures below 100 Kelvin.

Axial tilt of Mercury: 2.11°.

To get an idea of ​​just how big Mercury is, let's look at it in comparison to our planet.
Its diameter is 4879 km. This is approximately 38% of the diameter of our planet. In other words, we could put three Mercurys side by side and they would be just a tiny bit bigger than the Earth.

What is the surface area

The surface area is 75 million square kilometers, which is approximately 10% of the Earth's surface area.

If you could unfold Mercury, it would be almost twice the size of Asia (44 million square kilometers).

What about volume? The volume is 6.1 x 10 * 10 km3. That's a big number, but it's only 5.4% of the Earth's volume. In other words, we could fit 18 Mercury-sized objects inside the Earth.

Weight is 3.3 x 10 * 23 kg. Again, this is a lot, but in the ratio it is equal to only 5.5% of the mass of our planet.

Finally, let's look at the force of gravity on its surface. If you could stand on the surface of Mercury (in a good, heat-resistant spacesuit), you would feel 38% of the gravity you feel on Earth. In other words, if you weigh 100 kg, then Mercury is only 38 kg.

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But after it was demoted from the status of "full-fledged" planets, the primacy passed to Mercury, about which our today's article is.

History of the discovery of the planet Mercury

The history of Mercury and our knowledge of this planet goes back to ancient times, in fact it is one of the first planets known to mankind. So Mercury was observed in ancient Sumer, one of the first developed civilizations on Earth. Among the Sumerians, Mercury was associated with the local god of writing, Nabu. The Babylonian and ancient Egyptian priests, concurrently excellent astronomers of the ancient world, also knew about this planet.

As for the origin of the name of the planet "Mercury", it already comes from the Romans, who named this planet in honor of the ancient god Mercury (in the Greek version of Hermes), the patron of trade, crafts and the messenger of other Olympic gods. Also, astronomers of the past sometimes poetically called Mercury the morning or evening dawn, according to the time of its appearance in the starry sky.

The god Mercury, after whom the planet was named.

Also, ancient astronomers believed that Mercury and its closest neighbor planet Venus revolve around the Sun, and not around the Earth. And now, in turn, it revolves around the Earth.

Features of the planet Mercury

Perhaps the most interesting feature of this small planet is the fact that it is on Mercury that the largest temperature fluctuations occur: since Mercury is closest to the Sun, during the day its surface warms up to 450 C. But on the other hand, Mercury does not have its own atmosphere and cannot retain heat, as a result, at night the temperature drops to minus 170 C, here the largest temperature difference in our solar system.

Mercury is only slightly larger than our Moon. Its surface is also similar to the moon, riddled with craters, traces of small asteroids and meteorites.

An interesting fact: about 4 billion years ago, a huge asteroid crashed into Mercury, the force of this impact can be compared with the explosion of a trillion megaton bombs. This impact left a giant crater on the surface of Mercury, about the size of the modern state of Texas, astronomers called it the Basins Caloris crater.

Also very interesting is the fact that there is real ice on Mercury, which is hidden in the depths of the craters there. Ice could have been brought to Mercury by meteorites, or even formed from water vapor that escapes from the planet's interior.

Another interesting feature of this planet is the decrease in its size. The decrease itself is believed by scientists to be caused by the gradual cooling of the planet, which occurs over millions of years. As a result of cooling, its surface is crushed and blade-shaped rocks are formed.

The density of Mercury is high, only our Earth is higher, in the center of the planet there is a huge molten core, which is 75% of the diameter of the entire planet.

With the help of the Mariner 10 research probe sent by NASA to the surface of Mercury, an amazing discovery was made - there is a magnetic field on Mercury. This was all the more surprising, since according to the astrophysical data of this planet: the speed of rotation and the presence of a molten core, there should not be a magnetic field there. Despite the fact that the strength of the magnetic field of Mercury is only 1% of the strength of the Earth's magnetic field, it is superactive - the magnetic field of the solar wind periodically enters the field of Mercury and, from interaction with it, strong magnetic tornadoes arise, sometimes reaching the surface of the planet.

The speed of the planet Mercury, at which it revolves around the Sun, is 180,000 km per hour. The orbit of Mercury is oval and strongly elongated epileptically, as a result of which it either approaches the Sun by 47 million kilometers, then moves away by 70 million kilometers. If we could observe the Sun from the surface of Mercury, then from there it would look three times larger than from Earth.

One year on Mercury is equal to 88 Earth days.

Mercury photo

We bring to your attention a photo of this planet.

Temperature on Mercury

What is the temperature on Mercury? Although this planet is located closest to the Sun, the championship of the warmest planet in the solar system belongs to its neighbor Venus, whose thick atmosphere, which literally envelops the planet, allows it to retain heat. As for Mercury, due to the absence of an atmosphere, its heat escapes and the planet both heats up quickly and cools down quickly, every day and every night there are simply huge temperature drops from +450 C during the day to -170 C at night. At the same time, the average temperature on Mercury will be 140 C, but this is not cold, not hot, the weather on Mercury leaves much to be desired.

Is there life on Mercury

As you probably guessed, with such temperature fluctuations, the existence of life is not possible.

Atmosphere of Mercury

We wrote above that there is no atmosphere on Mercury, although this statement can be argued, the atmosphere of the planet Mercury is not so absent, it is simply different and different from what we mean by the atmosphere itself.

The original atmosphere of this planet was dispersed 4.6 billion years ago due to the very weak Mercury, which simply could not hold it. In addition, proximity to the Sun and constant solar winds also did not contribute to the preservation of the atmosphere in the classical sense of the term. However, a faint atmosphere still exists on Mercury, and it is one of the most unstable and insignificant atmospheres in the solar system.

The composition of the atmosphere of Mercury includes helium, potassium, sodium, and also water vapor. In addition, the current atmosphere of the planet is periodically replenished from various diverse sources, such as solar wind particles, volcanic degassing, radioactive decay of elements.

Also, despite the small size and scanty density, the atmosphere of Mercury can be divided into as many as four sections: the lower, middle and upper layers, as well as the exosphere. The lower atmosphere contains a lot of dust, which gives Mercury a peculiar red-brown appearance, it warms up to high temperatures due to the heat that is reflected from the surface. The middle atmosphere has a jet similar to the earth's. The upper atmosphere of Mercury actively interacts with solar winds, which also heat it up to high temperatures.

The surface of the planet Mercury is a bare rock of volcanic origin. Billions of years ago, molten lava cooled and formed a rocky, gray surface. This surface is also responsible for the color of Mercury - dark gray, although due to dust in the lower layers of the atmosphere, one gets the feeling that Mercury is red-brown. Pictures of the surface of Mercury taken from the Messenger research probe are very reminiscent of the lunar landscape, the only thing is that there are no “lunar seas” on Mercury, while there are no Mercury scarps on the Moon.

Rings of Mercury

Does Mercury have rings? After all, many planets of the solar system, for example, and of course they are present. Alas, Mercury has no rings at all. Rings cannot exist on Mercury, again due to the proximity of this planet to the Sun, because the rings of other planets are formed from ice fragments, a piece of asteroids and other celestial objects, which near Mercury are simply melted by hot solar winds.

Moons of Mercury

Like the rings of satellites, Mercury does not have. This is due to the fact that not so many asteroids fly around this planet - potential satellite candidates when they come into contact with the planet's gravity.

Rotation of Mercury

The rotation of the planet Mercury is very unusual, namely, the orbital period of its rotation is shorter compared to the duration of rotation around its axis. This duration is less than 180 Earth days. While the orbital period is half that. In other words, Mercury goes through two orbits in its three revolutions.

How long is the flight to Mercury

At the closest point, the minimum distance from Earth to Mercury is 77.3 million kilometers. How long will it take modern spacecraft to overcome such a distance? NASA's fastest spacecraft to date, New Horizons, which was launched to Pluto, has a speed of about 80,000 kilometers per hour. It would take him about 40 days to fly to Mercury, which is relatively not so long.

The first spacecraft Mariner 10 launched to Mercury back in 1973 was not so fast, it took him 147 days to fly to this planet. Technology is improving, and perhaps in the near future it will be possible to fly to Mercury in a few hours.

• Mercury is not easy enough to spot in the sky, as it "likes to play hide-and-seek" by literally "hiding" behind the Sun. However, astronomers of antiquity knew about it. This is explained by the fact that in those distant times the sky was darker due to the lack of light pollution, and the planet was visible much better.
• The shift in Mercury's orbit helped confirm Albert Einstein's famous theory of relativity. In short, she tells how the light of a star changes when another planet revolves around it. Astronomers reflected a radar signal from Mercury, and the path of this signal coincided with the predictions of general relativity.
• The magnetic field of Mercury, the very existence of which is very mysterious, in addition to everything else, it also differs at the poles of the planet. At the south pole it is more intense than at the north.

Mercury video

And in conclusion, an interesting documentary about the flight to the planet Mercury.