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Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It has been bombarded by meteorites,
comets, and asteroids for billons of years.
In ancient times
people thought that there were only five planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn. They didn't know that Earth was a planet and
had not discovered Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto yet. Planets were gods to
the ancients. The Babylonian called Mercury Nabou, the ruler of the
universe. To the ancient Egyptians it was the god Sobkou. The name
Mercury came from the Roman god Mercury. Mercury was the messenger to
the gods and was fast as the dickens.
Most information known about
Mercury you'll learn from Mariner X. Mercury is only larger than Pluto.
It's diameter is 3,031 miles. Almost 5 Mercury's could fit inside Earth.
Mercury has no Oxygen so a space suit would be needed. Though even with
the space suit it would not be suitable to live there because the
temperatures would kill you. The temperatures can reach 800°
F, or get as low as -300°
F.
Even though Mercury
has been studied for hundreds of years, we still have much to learn
about this tiny planet.
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Quick
Facts
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Length of year: |
88
Earth days |
| Length
of day: |
59
Earth days |
| Diameter: |
3,031miles |
| Moons: |
0
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| Distance
from Sun: |
36
million miles |
| Average
speed while orbiting the Sun: |
30miles per second |
| high
temperature: |
800°F |
| Low
temperature: |
-300°F |
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