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| MERCURY |
| Mercury is the planet closest to the blast furnace of the Sun. It's a small planet, only slightly larger than our Moon. Its "day" is nearly as long as its "year". At high noon, the temperature is high enough to melt lead and zinc at its Equator. But the North Pole seems to be made of ice. In Roman mythology, the fleet-footed messenger god and escort of dead souls to the underworld (Greek name, Hermes). |
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| credits: Hubble |
| Mass (kg) Diameter (km) Mean density (kg/m3) Escape velocity (m/sec) Average distance from Sun (AU) Rotation period (length of Earth day) Revolution period (length of year in Earth days) Obliquity (tilt of axis degrees) Orbit inclination (degrees) Orbit eccentricity (deviation from circular) Mean surface temperature (K) Maximum surface temperature (K) Minimum surface temperature (K) Visual geometric (reflectivity) Largest known surface feature Atmospheric components |
| 3.3 x 1023 4878 5420 4300 0.387 58.65 87.97 0 7 0.206 452 700 100 0.12 Caloris Basin (1350 km diameter) trace amounts of hydrogen and helium |
| Mercury Profile |