Mercury: The Closest Planet to the Sun with Extreme Temperatures and Unique Rotation

KOMPAS.com – Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. This smallest planet is only slightly larger than Earth’s moon.

At such a close distance, on the surface of Mercury, the sun appears three times larger than when seen from Earth and sunlight is seven times brighter on Mercury.

Mercury’s surface temperature is very hot, but also cold. Because Mercury is very close to the Sun, temperatures during the day can reach 430 degrees Celsius. Without an atmosphere capable of retaining heat at night, Mercury’s temperature could drop to -180 degrees Celsius.

One day on Mercury

Reporting from NASA’s Space Place, Mercury’s orbit is very eccentric and egg-shaped. This unique orbit brings Mercury as close as 47 million km and as far as 70 million km from the Sun.

Also read: How long does it take to travel from Earth to Mercury?

Mercury moves around the Sun every 88 days, traveling through space at a speed of almost 47 km per second. This is faster than any planet.

Mercury rotates slowly on its axis and completes one rotation every 59 Earth days. However, while Mercury moves fastest in an elliptical orbit around the Sun (and closest to the Sun), each rotation is not accompanied by sunrise and sunset as on most other planets.

The morning sun appears to rise briefly, set, and rise again from several parts of the planet’s surface. The same thing happens in reverse when the sun sets on other parts of the surface.

One solar day on Mercury (one full day-night cycle) is equal to 176 days on Earth or 1,408 hours.

Also read: Closest to the Sun, Why is Mercury Not the Hottest Planet in the Solar System?

Mercury’s axis of rotation is only tilted 2 degrees to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. This means that Mercury rotates perfectly upright so it doesn’t experience seasons like many other planets do.

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2023-09-09 08:00:00
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