Merkur

The winged messenger of the Greek Gods gave its names to the sun-next planet. Because it had already noticed to the peoples of the antiquity that the merkur of all planets moves most rapidly in the sky. He can be observed only for approximately one week in the dusk or for approximately one week in the dawn, deeply on the horizon. This large speed owes merkur of its proximity to the sun. From the nine large planets of the solar system the merkur of the sun stands next. Since the attraction of the sun is there particularly large, the merkur must run also particularly rapidly around the sun, in order not to in-fall into it. The large sun proximity has likewise drastic effects for its surface. On to sun-turn the side the temperature up to 400 degrees can rise; on the turned away from the sun it drops up to minus 200 degrees. The merkur has no atmosphere like the earth, which could adjust such temperatures. Only one space probe flew the American probe of marine ones 10, which approached in the years 1974 and 1975 three times closely to it, until today to the merkur, with the last flyby to 16. 3. 1975 on 327 kilometers. It conveyed thousands sharp television shots to the earth, which show the surface of the planet as one of Kratem zernarbte stone desert. The merkur sees very similar to the moon. From the photographs of marine one 10 one designed exact maps merkur and designated many krater on its surface after astronomers and famous personalities. The krater merkur are partly very large; thus the krater Beethoven exhibits a diameter of 625 kilometers. There are however also large smooth levels on the planet, for instance the Calores basin, which has an expansion of approximately 1300 kilometers. The merkur-Kratermerkur-Krater merkur-Krater are supposed, as those of the moon, from which years resulted to impact of large meteorites before many millions to billions.

August Keller

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