![]() Mercury was also the god of commerce, finance, communication, and eloquence. This is why the Romans named it after their fasted god, Mercury, who is sometimes also depicted as a quick messenger with a winged helmet. Mercury was named after the Roman god of commerceīecause Mercury’s orbit is so small, it seems like it’s moving faster in the sky than other planets. One year in Mercury is only about 88 Earth days. The planet’s closeness to the Sun makes Mercury’s orbit shorter than those of any other planet in the Solar System. Mercury orbits the Sun faster than any other planet Mercury’s orbit compared to Earth’s orbit. ![]() Astronomers estimate the object that caused it was at least 100 km (62 miles) long. ![]() The crater is about 1,550 km (963 miles) in diameter, which would be enough to fit part of Europe from Portugal to Germany. The Caloris Basin in Mercury is a huge crater left by a meteor impact that happened about 3.8 billion years ago. The biggest crater in Mercury could fit Western Europe This has filled its surface of crater impacts and has given Mercury a very similar look to our Moon. Mercury has the most craters in the Solar Systemīecause Mercury’s atmosphere is so weak, the planet has nothing to protect it against meteor impacts. Astronomers believe this is happening because it’s iron core is cooling, which is making it solid, therefore reducing the planet’s volume. It is estimated that the planet is about 9 miles smaller than it was four billion years ago (we told you it was a slow process). In a very, very slow process, Mercury is getting smaller every day. Not only is Mercury the smallest planet, it is also shrinking! With a diameter of only 4880 kilometers (3032 miles) Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System. Mercury is also the smallest planet in the Solar System Mercury Fact Sheet SizeĪphelion (Point farthest away from the Sun)Ġ.466 Astronomical Units (1 AU = distance from Earth to the Sun)Īt a distance of only about 1/3 of Earth’s distance to Sun, Mercury is the first planet in our Solar System. Mercury is very interesting to study and is full of cool facts. It is one of the most interesting planets because it has helped us understand a lot about the creation of our own Solar System and how other star systems could be formed as well. Thanks to this, we have known about its existence since ancient times and we have studied and learned a lot about it. Mercury is the first planet in our Solar System and one of the closest planets to Earth. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Mercury photography taken by the MESSENGER probe. ![]()
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