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| "If you do not want to age so soon, Mercury is not the place for you. A year on Mercury just flies by. Mercuryıs orbital speed is 29 miles per second-fastest amongst the 9 planets. A year on Mercury is only 88 earth-days. Amazing, huh?"
The planet, Mercury, is the closest planet to our Majestic Sun. Itıs about 0.3 astronomical unit away from the sun. Itıs like the twin to our moon, with the same diameter and hard rocky surface. Its ancient craters look very much alike to those found on the moon. Most of the craters were caused by the impact of stray meteors that scarred its surface millions of years ago. Thereıs another reason why you should never think of visiting the Mercurian world. Itıs climate is worst than you could have ever imagine! At noontime, temperatures can soar up to 370 Celsius but at night, temperatures can plummet to 185 Celsius. It is like living in a oven for 30 days, then changing for the deep freezer for another 30 days. This phenomenon occurs, as Mercury has no atmosphere to reflect or trap the heat from the sun. Nevertheless, in 1991, astronomers actually predicted that ice caps may form at the north and south poles of Mercury, in spite of the intensive radiation from the nearby sun. These ice caps could have existed in deep craters, which will constantly keep them in shadows. Therefore, the Sun could not melt the ice. On earth, Mercury can be seen with naked eye in a clear sky, just before dawn and immediately after dusk. It is a bright star shining just above the horizon. As it is always seen hanging around the sun, hence it was named after the Roman messenger god, which sends the messages of the people to their Sun god. |
