Mercury
Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun but surprisingly not the hottest planet in our solar system. It orbits the sun at a speed of 29 miles per second and takes 88 Earth years to complete a full orbit. The surface on Mercury is close to that of Earths moon and has no atmosphere.
History
Its not possible to determine who discovered Mercury first. However, it was first observed with the help of a telescope in early 17th century, by Galileo Galilei.Galileo’s didn’t manage to capture Mercury’s phases, this would be observed later by astronomer Giovanni Zupi in 1639, and thus he discovered that the planet
Figures
Mercury and Sun
Facts
- Hydrogen 0.55 (ppm)
- Helium 5.24 (ppm)
- Oxygen 20.946%
- Carbon Dioxide 400 (ppm)
- Iron 70 %
- Neon 18.18 (ppm)
- Nitrogen 78.084%
- Its the smallest planet in our solar system
- Named after the Roman messenger God
- Temperature reaches 430 degress celsius during the day
- Travels at 29 Miles per second
- Distance from sun is 36 million miles
Mercury has the most craters in the solar system and you could fit western Europe inside its largest crater.