Lesson 2- Mercury
Chapter 2
- Closest planet to the sun
- One of the easier planets to see in the night sky
- possible to see without a telescope
- One of the only planets without any moons
- Geography
- rocky planet
- once thought to be free of water
- ice discovered at its north pole
- shielded from the Sun's rays by the craters
- lots of craters
- the largest is the Caloris Basin
- probably came from a crash or something
- completely covered in craters
- Enviroment
- can be very hot; can be very cold
- temperatures range from 90K to 700K
- volcanic activity has been confirmed to happen many years ago
- no longer volcanic
- very little atmosphere
- Etymology
- named for the Roman god Mercury
- thievery
- commerce
- travel
- messenger
- messenger because it rotates very quickly
- Days/Years
- 59 days on Earth=one day on Mercury
- amount of time to rotate on axis
- 88 days on Earth=one year on Mercury
- amount of time to rotate around the Sun
- Mercury-bound spacecraft must travel over 91 million km into the Sun's gravitational potential well
- Orbital speed of 48 km/s (Earth= 30 km/s)
