Mercury

What is Planet Mercury?

Mercury is a planet in our solar system, it is the smallest planet among all the planets in our solar system. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, 70 million km from the sun, and it has no moon around it. Mercury goes around the sun the fastest compared to the other eight planets. Mercury speeds around the sun every 88 days, travelling through space at nearly 50km per second. One Mercury solar day (one day-night cycle) equals to 175.97 Earth days. Temperatures on Mercury’s surface can reach 430 degrees Celsius. Nighttime temperatures on the surface can critically drop to -180 degrees Celsius because Mercury has no atmosphere to retain that heat. Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth. Mercury is slightly bigger than Earth’s moon, but smaller than Earth, but in term of weight, Mercury is heavier than moon because Mercury is made of heavier materials, like iron.

Why Planet Mercury is named Mercury?

The Romans believed that gods and goddesses were in charge of everything on Earth. Mercury is named after the messenger for their gods. The Roman Mercury had wings on his helmet and shoes. He could travel very quickly from place to place. The planet Mercury moves quickly around the sun. That is how it got its name.