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Ah, Mercury, that small planet closest to the sun. The one no one ever really
discusses, simply because it's too far away to make a difference in our lives.
It's small, it's hot, and it's not like we will ever be flying there to live.
So why am I writing an article on it? What's the point? Why don't I write an
article on Mars? Or even Venus? Well, Mercury is the first planet of our solar
system, it starts us all off in a way, and I wanted to know more. So here goes,
my fellow Whyvillians.
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, but it is not actually the hottest.
The title of 'hottest planet' goes to Venus, which, because of its dense atmosphere,
traps heat. Its mean temperature is 867 degrees F, while Mercury's mean temperature
is only 333 degrees F! Major difference, eh?
Also, if you ever compare Mercury's surface to the surface of the far side
of Earth's Moon, you would see that they look similar! Both are covered in craters,
and I mean covered! (I recommend searching Google images for 'far side of moon',
you'll get loads of results!) Mercury and the Moon also have other similarities,
such as size. The diameter (width) of the Moon is 2,159 miles, while Mercury's
is 3,032 miles. That's pretty close, relatively speaking -- the Earth's diameter
is 12,756 miles, and Jupiter's is 142,984 miles.
Mercury revolves around the sun every 88 (Earth) days, and rotates once every
58.7 (Earth) days.
Mercury is named for the Roman messenger god, or the equivalent to the Greek
god Hermes.
Mercury travels right around the sun's equator, but the rest of the planets
actually go around on a slight angle to the equator of the sun.
Want to know more? Well there are loads of sources on the internet and in your
local library; all you have to do is look!
Au revoir, Whyville!
Firecat
Sources:
My earth science teacher
My earth science textbook
MSN Encarta
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