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| The Planets |
| Mercury |
| Venus |
| Earth |
| Mars |
| Jupiter |
| Saturn |
| Uranus |
| Neptune |
| Pluto |
| The Moon |
Pictures of the Planet Mercury
- Lessons in Astronomy -
| Basic Information About the Planet Mercury | ||
| Mercury
is the closest planet to the Sun. It completes its elliptical orbit
around the sun every 88 days, traveling at about 29 miles per second
- faster than any other planet. Its mean distance from the Sun is
about 36 million miles. This planet completes three rotations on its
axis for every two orbits around the Sun. Mercury, about one third the size of Earth, is the second smallest planet in the solar system. Its diameter is 3,032 miles and its surface gravity is 38% that of Earth. |
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Mercury's temperature ranges from 873 degrees Fahrenheit (467 C) during the day to -297 degrees Fahrenheit (-183 C) at night. Mercury is similar to the Earth's moon in that it has very little atmosphere and it has thousands of craters caused by meteors. |
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| Pictures of Mercury by Mariner 10 | ||
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Outgoing Hemisphere | |
| Click to enlarge | ||
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Mercury's South Pole | |
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Planet Mercury | |
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Photomosaic
of Mercury - Inbound View |
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| Click to enlarge | ||
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Mercury's
Southern Hemisphere (Photomosaic) |
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