Planet Mercury: Facts About the Closest Planet

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and also one of the smallest among the 8 planets in the Solar System. Mercury is gravitationally locked and the rotation is unique to the planets of the solar system. Here are some interesting facts about Mercury:

1. Mercury is known to exist since the ancient times. The planet was first mentioned to exist around 3000 BC.
2. A year in Mercury is equivalent to 88 Earth days. Mercury is tidally locked (also known as gravitational lock) to the Sun, which has slowed down the rotation of the planet to match its orbit around the Sun.
3. Despite the small size, Mercury is very dense and is composed mainly of heavy metals and rocks.
4. Mercury orbits quite quickly around the Earth which made early civilizations believed that it was two different stars that appeared once in the morning and in the evening.
5. Because of its speed, Mercury is named after one of the Roman deity who was quick at delivering messages too.  
6. The orbit of Mercury is considered to be the most eccentric and least circular of all the planets.
7. Mercury has just 38% of the gravity on Earth. This means that it gets blown away by the solar winds. It is not able to hold in the atmosphere it has.
8. It has no moons or rings due to its inability to hold the atmosphere.

The knowledge about the planet is still scarce with only some of the details mentioned above.

By: Neha Maheshwari

Content: https://theplanets.org/mercury/