By Tiffany Pecorella Mercury is the first planet

By: Tiffany Pecorella Mercury is the first planet from the sun and looks a lot like Earth’s moon

History ØGalileo discovered Mercury in the early 17 th century {1610} because he was the first person to turn his telescope to the planets Ø The Romans named the planets after their most important gods Ø Because Mercury was the fastest planet as it moved around the Sun, it was named after the Roman messenger god Mercury Ø The first visit to Mercury was a flyby made by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in 1974

Solar System Ø Mercury is the first planet from the sun Ø It does not have any moons or rings around it Ø It is 35. 98 million miles from the sun Ø The orbital period is 88 days around the sun Ø The rotation in Earth days is 58 days, 15 hours, and 30 minutes

Planet Appearance Ø Mercury has no color, it is bare rock Ø The planet looks like Earths’ moon Ø Its surface is covered with craters, caused by space rock impacts Ø It has a large number of very deep and irregular pits, some that are several miles deep Ø Mercury is completely dry, with no possibility of life Mercury looked at in a close and far away view

Sign of Mercury Astronomers have traditionally used this symbol for the planet Mercury It is the medieval alchemical sign for the element mercury (Hg) It consists of the biological sign for female, but topped with “horns” or a crescent

Exploration * There are 3 missions associated with Mercury * Ø Mariner 10 - Launched November 3, 1973 § Performed 3 flybys: March 29, 1974 – September 21, 1974 – March 16, 1975 § It discovered Mercury's thin atmosphere and detected its magnetic field § Was only able to map 40 -45% of Mercury’s surface Ø Messenger – Launched August 3, 2004 § Stands for MErcury, Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging mission § Entered Mercury’s orbit on March 18, 2011, becoming the first spacecraft to do so § Primary mission lasted from April 4, 2011 to March 17, 2012, collecting over 100, 000 images § Achieved 100% mapping of Mercury on March 6, 2013 § Ended its mission with a planned crash into Mercury on April 30, 2015 Ø Bepi. Colombo – Expected launch window starts January 27, 2017 § Expected to enter Mercury’s orbit in January 2024 § Its mission is to study and understand the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history of Mercury

Mariner 10 On its launch pad on November 3, 1973 and in space Messenger On its launch pad on August 3, 2004 and in space

Artist’s view of Bepi. Colombo at Mercury Mission: Bepi. Colombo will provide the best understanding of Mercury to date. It consists of two individual orbiters: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) to map the planet, and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) to investigate its magnetosphere

Interesting Facts Ø The daytime temperature on Mercury reaches over 400 Degrees Celsius since it is so close to the sun Ø The nighttime temperature can drop to -180 Degrees Celsius because it doesn’t have an atmosphere to hold the heat in Ø Mercury also has no wind or weather because it doesn’t have an atmosphere Ø There is no water or air on the surface of Mercury Ø Mercury has a very low surface gravity Ø If you weigh 100 lbs on Earth, you would weigh 38 lbs on Mercury Ø Its radius is 1, 516 miles Ø Its diameter is 3, 100 miles compared to Earth of 7, 926 miles Ø Mercury’s distance from the Earth is 57 million miles Ø If you were to stand on Mercury, the Sun would appear two and a half times bigger than it appears on Earth {but it would be too hot so don’t try it}