The Planet Mercury

The planet Mercury was first recorded in history around 14th century B.C. Many different cultures such as the Babylonians, Chinese, Roman, Greeks and Hindu mythology had Mercury in their observations. These names for Mercury ranged from Hermes, Apollo, and Na-bu. The name Mercury was given to the planet eventually by the Romans referring to their messenger god. All of these civilizations saw Mercury and recorded seeing Mercury without any help from a telescope. The first man of course to see Mercury through a telescope was none other than Galileo himself.

Mercury is the innermost planet in the solar system. The temperatures on the planet range from a very frigged -275 degrees Fahrenheit and a scolding hot 840 degrees Fahrenheit. Although Mercury does get very hot, it is not the hottest planet in our solar system. The lack of atmosphere means that the heat can escape from the surface of the planet. Solar winds from the sun blow the atmosphere away from Mercury because the planet is to small to create its own gravity. The atmosphere that Mercury does have is made up of hydrogen, helium, oxygen, potassium, sodium, and calcium.

Mercury has no moons. The orbit of Mercury around the sun is of course the fastest in our solar system at only 88 earth days and rotates every 58 days. The slow rotation of the planet causes one day on Mercury to last 176 earth days from sunrise to sunrise. Oddly enough, it is again second to another planet in this category also. Mercury diameter is about one third of earths diameter. The core of the planet is made up of 3 different sections like the earth. It has a crust, mantle, and core. The core of the planet is made up of iron. This core gives Mercury and Earth the only two planets in our solar system with a magnetic field. Then of course is the mantle which is between 100 and 300 kilometers thick. The crust of the planet looks a lot like our moons does. It has a lot of craters, plains, and basins. The polar regions of Mercury might actually have water on them. Scientist believe that the ridges in Mercury might have water frozen in them. The ridges reach deep into the planets mantle and never gets touched by the sun.

Mercury has an orange tint to it when viewed on Earth by telescopes. The problem with viewing the planet is that Mercury is so close to the sun that it can only be seen at certain times and certain places. During the day when it is clear, when the sun comes up, or when it sets, is when most astronomers go looking for the planet. Even if the sky is clear, Mercury orbits the sun so fast that it is hard to keep up with in the sky from night to night.

There have been two space probes sent to the planet Mercury. The first probe was named Mariner 10 in 1974. This probe helped shed light on the atmosphere, terrain, and magnetic field of the planet. The second probe sent to Mercury is the Messenger, which was launched in August of 2004. The probe has already had one fly by and has two more on the way later this year and early 2009. After the fly bys, the probe will enter an orbit around Mercury in 2011 and study the magnetic field of the planet and map out more of the terrain.

In the year 2013, another space probe will be sent to Mercury. This probe will be sent with better and more equipment to find out the mysteries of the magnetic field and the polar regions of this planet. In theory, water on a planet means that it could sustain life. That would be something. Mercury is the closest to the sun and the smallest planet but, it could have water.

Source: http://www.nineplanets.org/mercury.html