| Image | Statistics | Measurements |
|---|---|---|
|
Diameter/km Mass/kg mean density kg/m Volume/km^3 Surface gravity Escape velocity Axial rotation period/h Axial inclination Distance from Sun Eccentricity of orbit Orbital period/days |
4879 0.33e+24 5.43e+3 6.08e+10 3.70 4.30km/s 58.65 0.01³ 46.00-69.82e+6 0.206 87.969 |
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun in our solar system and never strays far from the Sun. It is this reason why the surface temperature is 400 degrees Celsius on the side facing the Sun, hot enough to melt tin and lead if any were to be found there. However because Mercury takes so long to turn on its axis (nearly 59 Earth days), on its night side the temperature plummets below 180 degrees Celsius. This is partly due to a lack of atmosphere, Mercury is only 40% larger than the Moon, too small to retain a large atmosphere having just a trace of helium. With no protective atmosphere it is no surprise that it has so many impact craters most of which were caused during the formation of the solar system.
