Hey I am back once again with another "Interview With Planets"! This time I am meeting up with the planet closest to the sun, Mercury!
Mercury is the smallest planet, (thought its bigger the Pluto), and is slightly smaller in diameter to a couple of moons, but nearly twice as massive all together.
Mercury was named after the Roman mythology god of commerce, travel, and thievery, the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes. Hermes was the messenger of the Gods. It probably was named after this because of how fast it moves around the sky.
When Mercury was first discovered, it had two names, on for it as a morning star, and one for it as a evening star, though the astronomers knew that it was the same body.
Since the planet is so close to the sun, and so hot, it makes it harder for spacecrafts to visit it. That's why only one spacecraft could, and that was Mariner 10, (even thought it was only able to map 45% of it). This spacecraft flew by three times in 1974 and 1975.
Like Earth, Mercury has a magnetic field which helps stop things from coming in and blasting off craters and such. But it is much weaker than Earth's; only 1% of Earth's.
Mercury has no known moons.
Now it is time to meet up the one and only Mercury. Though it took me a long time to slow Mercury down from its quickness around the sun.
Mokey6: So Pluto told me that Saturn brags to him a lot more than to the other planets since Pluto is much smaller than the rest. Is it the same thing for you?
Mercury: Ha, not really because he can't ever catch up to me to brag!
Mokey6: So since you're so fast, do you make any friends, or are you too fast for them?
Mercury: Not so much with the planets, I am too fast, but me and the sun are good friends. The Sun is very mellow, despite his heat he has to deal with.
Mokey6: Oh cool. So since you don't hang out with the planets, do you think they make fun of you or anything?
Mercury: Oh no not all. The sun tells me what they say, they actually think I'm pretty cool. Even thought I'm virtually on fire. Though once I thought they said I was a little rough around the edges.
Mokey6: Why is that?
Mercury: because my edge, (as in my atmosphere), is very thin and rough because of atoms being blasted off by solar wind.
Mokey6: Oh I see. What do you like the best about yourself?
Mercury: Probably how hot I am, I actually like it a lot. I nicknamed myself the Hot Tamale, or the Hot Merc-male.
Mokey6: Right . . . nice. Anyways, what do you like the least?
Mercury: Probably that I don't have a moon. When the sun is busy with another planet I get bored, and a moon could keep me occupied.
That's all for now, this was mokey6, see you next time!
