“Mercury stays close to the Sun like a child clinging to its mother’s apron strings.” – Huber J Bernhard, American astronomer
The planet Mercury was known from ancient times. Because it was so elusive ad swift in its revolution around the Sun, it was named after the fleet-footed Greek messenger of the gods, Herms or the Roman Mercurius. Mercury was known for his speed and agility, wore a winged cap and shoes and bore a staff entwined with two snakes (called a ‘caudaceus’). He was also the god of thieves and trade. He is believed to have crafted the musical instrument called a lyre from the shell of a tortoise. It had nine cords representing the nine Muses. Mercury gifted the lyre to Apollo, the sun god and received the caudaceus from him in exchange.
Since it is the innermost planet in the solar system, Mercury can rarely be seen due to the Sun’s glare. Even the great astronomer, Copernicus, is rumoured not to have seen it. Its gravity is less than half of earth’s, so it barely has an atmosphere, which is thought to be made up of helium. With no air to temper the Sun’s rays, Mercury’s temperature fluctuates widely. The side facing the sun roasts in 482 degrees C, while the side facing away is a freezing-184 degrees C. It goes round the Sun at breakfast speed, the fastest revolution in the solar system. Like the other Earth-like planets (Venus and Mars), it is made up mostly of rock and metal. Its surface resembles the Moon with hundreds of craters Scientists believe that the planet is slowly buckling inwards and shrinking in size because its core, largely made of iron, is freezing. The photographs taken by Manner 10 show great gashes across its surface, one measuring nearly 2 km in length. They resemble the fault line across Earth’s crust (along which earthquakes occur).
Picture Credit : Google