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Mercury (planet)

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A digital rendering of the planet Mercury created using NASA and USGS data.

Mercury, the Tiny Planet

Mercury is the smallest and closest planet to the Sun in our Solar System. It is a rocky world, much like our Moon, covered in craters and wrapped in a very thin atmosphere. Because it is so close to the Sun, Mercury can only be seen from Earth just before sunrise or after sunset, where it shines like a bright star.

Mercury has some very special qualities. Its day and year lengths fit in a unique 3:2 pattern. This means one day on Mercury lasts about two of its years! The side of Mercury that faces the Sun gets very, very hot for 88 Earth days, then stays dark and cold for another 88 days. Temperatures can change a lot, from very cold at night to very hot during the day.

People have watched Mercury for a very long time. Ancient Greeks called it by different names depending on where it appeared in the sky. The Romans named it after their speedy messenger god, Mercury, because the planet moves quickly across the sky. Today, scientists have visited Mercury with space probes like Mariner 10, MESSENGER, and BepiColombo. These missions have helped us learn about Mercury’s surface, history, and even possible hidden pockets of water ice in some of its dark craters.

Images

A diagram showing the sizes of planets and other planetary objects in our solar system, arranged by their distance from the Sun.
A digital rendering of the planet Mercury, created using data from NASA and the USGS.
A colorful map showing different surface materials on the planet Mercury, created from data collected by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft.
A colorful image showing three craters—Munch, Sander, and Poe—on the planet Mercury, with different colors highlighting unique surface features.
A colorful view of Mercury's Caloris basin, showing smooth volcanic plains and many craters on the planet’s surface.
A colorful view of Mercury's Caloris Basin, showing mountains, craters, and tectonic features from NASA's MESSENGER mission.
A detailed image of Mercury's surface showing the Tolstoj basin, a large crater with smooth plains in its center, as captured by the MESSENGER spacecraft.
A crater on the planet Mercury named Picasso, showing a unique pit formed by ancient volcanic activity.
A NASA image of Mercury's north pole, showing craters where sunlight never reaches and ice can exist.
Diagram showing the internal structure and magnetic field of the planet Mercury.
A photograph of the planet Mercury showing its cratered surface, taken during a spacecraft flyby.
A colorful map showing the north pole of the planet Mercury, with red areas indicating hot sunlit regions and purple areas showing cold shadowed craters where scientists believe there may be water ice.
Animation showing how Mercury orbits the Sun much faster than Earth.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Mercury (planet), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Tap any image to view credits and license.

Mercury (planet) — Safekipedia Explorer