Mercury (Planet)

Mercury, the closest planet to the sun
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of
Washington

Overview

Mercury is the innermost planet in our solar system and the quickest to orbit the Sun.

Atmosphere

No appreciable atmosphere exists on Mercury. Helium is present at a surface pressure of 10^-9 millibars.

Surface

Mercury has a crated surface and is similar in appearance to Earth's Moon. The largest surface feature on Mercury is the Caloris Basin.

The interior contains a large core of iron which radar studies have shown to be molten ^[1]. At about 1800 kilometres in diameter this core is slightly larger than the overall size of our Moon. Between the surface of Mercury and it's core lies a mantle of silicate material.

Locating Mercury

Mercury, smallest of the terrestrial planets and closest to the Sun. With it's orbit being so close to the Sun it is a tricky object to spot and it can only be see just after sunset or just before sunrise. As it is easy to mistake Mercury for a star the best way to find it is to check star charts or use a piece of software such as Redshift or Stellarium to find it's location.

Finding Mercury can be made easier if it happens to be near another brighter planet in the sky (see image below) then it is just a matter of locating the brighter planet to find Mercury nearby.