Welcome to our new post! In this article, I will introduce you to some curiosities about the planet Mercury. Get ready to learn amazing things about the first planet in our solar system and surprise your friends with these interesting facts.
Curiosisties about Mercury
The discovery of this planet dates from the time of the Sumerians, approximately 5,000 years ago. Years later he received the name of Hermes by the Greeks and Mercury by the Romans, in honor of the speedy messenger god. Its discovery could be made so long ago thanks to the fact that advanced telescopes are not needed to see it.
Mercury is the smallest of the eight planets that make up our solar system, in fact it is slightly larger than our moon. A curious fact about this planet is that although it is located closest to the sun, it is not the hottest, still reaching around 430 degrees Celsius during the day. However, the thin atmosphere does not allow it to retain this heat, which is why it has a wide thermal amplitude, reaching up to -180 degrees Celsius at night.
It has the fastest speed among the planets in our solar system, traveling at a speed of 47 kilometers per second. Mercury's year has only 88 days, this is due to its proximity to the sun. Every 3 months you would be 1 year old if you lived on Mercury.
The days on this planet are already longer and it is because Mercury takes around 59 Earth days to turn around its own axis. The day and night cycle is even greater being equivalent to 176 Earth days. That is, every year on Earth on Mercury the sun rises twice.
On this planet there are no seasons of the year. It has an extensive metallic core approximately 3,600 kilometers wide that occupies about 61% of the planet's area, giving it the title of the second densest planet in our solar system. It has a diameter of 4,876 kilometers, about 2.6 times smaller than that of Earth.
The sun from Mercury's perspective would look 3 times bigger than from our planet. And the brightness would be about 7 more intense. Mercury's spin on its own axis is almost perfectly vertical, presenting a tilt of about 2 degrees. This planet has no moon.
This planet is considered rocky, being formed by: metallic elements (70%) and silicates (30%). The surface of this planet is composed of silicon, magnesium and sulfur.
Exploring the surface of Mercury is such a complex challenge that before sending a probe to this planet, the Moon, Mars and Venus had already been visited. The first probe to succeed in exploring Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 in 1974. This probe re-explored the planet two more times and has managed to map 40% to 45% of the surface.
NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft also investigated the surface of Mercury and discovered possible volcanoes. It is thought that this planet was volcanically active, but when it cooled it contracted, causing various deformations on its surface. These folds are distinguished from craters because they are more recent structures. The ESA (European Space Agency) BepiColombo spacecraft in conjunction with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will arrive at Mercury in 2025 and was launched in October 2018.
The sun does not reach some craters that are located in the polar regions of Mercury. In these areas the probe found a condensed material that looks like ice. These craters are thought to have originated about 4 billion years ago with a meteorite bombardment. This theory is supported by the fact that the planet's thin atmosphere could not stop meteorites.
If an observer located at the closest point to the Sun on Mercury's equator were to look at the sun, they would have the impression that the sun is not moving, since the orbital speed of the planet is equal to its rotation speed. This event could occur over a couple of weeks.
Curiosities about the universe
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