Mercury Basics
What star is Mercury closest to?
The Sun
What causes most of Mercury’s craters?
Meteorite impacts
Does mercury have a thick or thin atmosphere?
Very thin..called an exosphere
Mercury is the ___ planet from the Sun.
Closest
Mercury was named after the Roman _____ god
messenger
True or False: Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system
True
The surface of Mercury looks most like which celestial body?
The Moon
What gases make up most of Mercury’s exosphere?
oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium, and potassium
How long is one day on Mercury (in earth days)?
59 days
True or False: Mercury has moons
False
How long does Mercury take to orbit the Sun?
88 Earth days
What is the name of Mercury’s largest impact basin?
Caloris Basin
How does the solar wind affect mercury’s exosphere?
it strips away atoms…pushing them from day to night side
How long is one mercury year?
88 earth days
What color is Mercury’s surface?
Grayish- brown (not red like Mars)
Why is Mercury not the hottest planet even though it’s closest to the Sun?
What caused Mercury’s cliffs and ridges
The planet shrinking as it cooled
What makes Mercury’s atmosphere constantly unstable?
Solar wind and micrometeoroid impacts
What is unique about mercury’s rotation compared to its orbit
it rotates 3 times for every 2 orbits
What element makes up most of mercury’s core ?
Iron
What NASA spacecraft orbited Mercury from 2011-2015
MESSENGER
Why do Mercury’s craters remain visible for billions of years?
There’s no atmosphere or weather to erode them
Why can’t mercury support life or weather?
its exosphere is too thin to hold heat or air pressure
why does mercury have such long days and short years?
Where is ice found on Mercury?
in craters near its poles