MERCU

RY
Prepared by:

Arries Joy Almanzor

John Paulo Bustamante
Gillian Erika Jarilla
Mojecah Jean Plucios
 Mercury is the rocky
planet closest to the sun and
is also the smallest of the
eight planets in our solar
system.

MERCURY
If a crater is larger than 250 km in
diameter, it is known as a Basin. The
largest Basin on Mercury, the Coloris
Basin, is around 1,550 km in diameter and
was discovered by the Mariner 10.
 Planetary Data for Mercury

Mean Distance from Sun: 57, 910, 000 km

Orbital Period: 87.97 Earth days
Surface Area: 74, 800,000 km²
Day Length: 58d 15h 30 min
Surface Temperature: -180 to 430ºC
Number of known moons: None
 MERCURY
Mercury can be seen from Earth
during twilight. Mercury’s orbit is
inclined by 7 degrees to the plane
of Earth’s orbit and its known as a
transit.
MERCURY

It is named after the Roman

deity Mercury, the messenger
of the gods.
Research &
Exploration
MARINER 10 – first spacecraft to visit Mercury which
imaged about 45% of the surface and detected its
magnetic field.
MESSENGER - second spacecraft to visit Mercury. It
arrived in March 18, 2011, Messenger became the first
spacecraft to orbit the Mercury.

MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging

Formation
and Evolution

It is theorized that Mercury was formed about 4.5

billion years ago when gravity pulled swirling gas
and dust together to form the small planet. Its
small size but enormous core is theorized to be the
result of a collision with another giant object that
stripped much of its surface.
Structure of
the Mercury
 OXYGEN – 42.0%

SODIUM – 29.0%

HYDROGEN – 22.0%

HELIUM – 6.0%

POTASSIUM – 0.5%

OTHERS – 0.5%

ATMOSPHERE OF MERCURY
COMPOSITION
 MERCURY’S
PHYSICAL
CHARACTERIS
TICS
Mercury’s surface temperature can reach a scorching
Mercury’s Physical Characteristics
840 degrees Fahrenheit (450 degrees Celsius). At night
temperatures can plummet to minus 275 F (minus 170
C), a temperature swing of more than 1,100 degrees F
(600 degrees C), the greatest in the Solar System.

Mercury’s orbital distance is 58 million km (36 million

miles) – it has the shortest year ( 88 days) and receives
the most intense solar radiation of all planets.
 Mercury’s Physical Characteristics

Mercury is the smallest planet – it is only

slightly larger than Earth’s moon.

Its radius are about 2, 439.7 km (1, 516 miles).

Mercury is the smallest major planet, smaller
even than Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, or
Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
 How big is Mercury?

Mercury is the smallest of the eight planets

in our Solar System. It is only a little bigger
than Earth’s moon. It would take more than
18 Mercurys to be as big as Earth.
 Mercury’s Physical Characteristics
Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth,
with a huge metallic core roughly 2,200 to 2,400
miles (3,600 to 3,800 km) wide, or about 75% of
the planet’s diameter.

Mercury’s mass is approximately 0.330 x 10² kg,

which works out to 330 trillion metric tons.
Combined with its density and size, Mercury has a
surface gravity of 3.7 m/s² (0.38 g).
ORBIT AND
ROTATION
ORBIT AND
ROTATION
Mercury speeds around the sun every 88
Earth days, traveling through space at nearly
112, 000 mph (180, 000 km/h), faster than any
other planet.

It revolves around the Sun in an elliptical

orbit at a mean distance of 58 million km.
ORBIT AND
ROTATION
Due to Mercury’s highly elliptical orbit and
the 59 Earth’s day or so it takes to rotate on its
axis, when on the scorching surface of the
planet, the sun appears to rise briefly, set, and
rise again before it travels westward across
the sky. At sunset, the sun appears to set, rise
again briefly, and then set again.
 ORBIT AND ROTATION
Some statistics about Mercury, according to NASA:
Average distance from the Sun:
35, 984, 000 miles (57, 910, 000 km)
Perihelion (closest approach to Sun):
28, 580, 000 miles (46, 000, 000 km)
Aphelion (farthest distance from Sun):
43, 380, 000 miles (69, 820, 000 km)
Length of day:
58. 646 Earth days ( 58d 15h 30 min)
 MOTIONS OF THE MERCURY

 Rotation- rotation of the planet Mercury around

its own axis.

 The Mercury rotates on its axis from west to east

or counter clockwise.
 MOTIONS OF THE MERCURY

The rotation of Mercury is a little strange to Earth bound

creatures. It rotates on its axis very slowly compared to its orbital
period. One rotation takes 56.85 Earth days, while one orbital period
only takes 88 Earth days. This means that a single day on Mercury
last about 0.646 times as long as a single year. The planet’s
equatorial rotational speed is 10.892 km/h. These periods are given
in solar days. In sidereal days Mercury rotates every 58.647 days
and orbits twice during every three rotations.
 MOTIONS OF THE MERCURY

Mercury’s orbit is inclined by 7 degrees to the plane

of Earth’s orbit (the ecliptic). As a result, transits of
Mercury across the face of the Sun can only occur
when the planet is crossing the plane of ecliptic at the
time it lies between the Earth and the Sun. This occurs
about every seven years on average.
 MOTIONS OF THE MERCURY

The rotation of Mercury was not discovered until 1965.

Until then the most widely accepted theory had Mercury
tidal locked to the Sun. Soviets scientists bounced radar
signals off the planet’s surface in 1962 verifying that the
planet rotated, but it wasn’t until scientists using the
Arecibo Observatory verified the planet’s sidereal rotational
period of 58.647 day.
THANK YOU!
