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MERCURY
Of all the bodies
in the Solar System, Mercury is the closest to the sun. You might
think that this means that it would be the hottest planet, but in
fact it is not. The average temperature on Mercury is much lower
than that on Venus.
Mercury is not a very
suitable place for someone from Earth to visit. It has almost no
atmosphere, and by day the temperature is around 430 degrees
Celsius. At night it cools very fast, down to –180 degrees
Celsius. Because it is so close to the sun, it moves around it
very fast, faster than any other planet. Mercury’s year takes
only eighty-eight Earth days, but each day on Mercury is 176 Earth
days long. In other words, the next time between one sunrise and
the next is exactly twice as long as the time it takes to travel
once right round the Sun.
Because Mercury and
Venus are closer to the Sun than to the Earth, they look to us as
though they change shape, in phases like the moon.
Mercury looks fairly small, even
in a large telescope, and it is not possible to see any real
detail on its surface. It is very similar to that of the moon,
with craters and plains.
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Linux Space Programs
Astronomy Clubs
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