My planet is Mercury. It's name comes from the Greek god Hermes (the messenger god) and the Roman god Mercury (god of commerce, thievery, and travel). It was discovered by the Babylonin's because it is visible in the sky. *Behind Hermes is Mercury's sign. Notice the wings on his feet and shoes which show up on the sign. Circle= head, half circle= wings on helmet,cross at bottom= wings on feet.*
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It doesn't have much of an atmosphere because of its closeness to the Sun, the solar winds blow it away. Also, from being so close to the Sun, the gravitational pull is much stronger, causing the planet to rotate a lot faster. 1 day on Mercury is approximately 59 (Earth) days while 1 year is 88 (Earth) days. Even thought it is close to the Sun, it is one of the coldest planets because the heat isn't trapped by an atmosphere. The temperature ranges from -173 / 427 °C.
MESSENGER stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, Ranging. It was the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. MESSENGER took off on August 3, 2004 and has now been orbiting Mercury for around 5 weeks.
If you want to know more about MESSENGER's orbit, watch this video.. MESSENGER
Interesting Facts:
- The planet is only seen after the Sunrise and before the Sunsets.
- Even though Mercury has a large iron core (1800-1900 km thick), it only has a magnetic field 1% of Earth's. Also, people think the core may be molten.
- While standing on Mercury, the Sun would seem 3 times larger than on Earth.
- It is the second smallest and densest planet in the solar system.
- 13 times every 100 years, Mercury passes in front of the Sun and is visible from Earth. This is called a transit. The next transit is happening on May 9th, 2016.
