Mercury Facts

1. The planet Mercury formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
2. The planet Mercury was first observed via telescope in the 17th century by Galileo Galilei and Thomas Harriot.
3. The planet Mercury is the closest planet to the sun.
4. Mercury is a terrestrial planet.
5. Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system.
6. The radius of the planet Mercury is 1,516 miles.
7. Mercury's perihelion (closets) distance to the sun is 28.5 million miles.
8. Mercury's aphelion (farthest) distance to the sun is 43.5 million miles.
9. Light from our solar system's sun takes only 3.2 minutes to reach Mercury.
10. It takes Mercury 88 days to complete an orbit of the sun.
11. Mercury has no known moons (natural satellites).
12. The planet Mercury has no rings.
13. Mercury doesn't have an atmosphere, it has a thin exosphere. The exosphere contains helium, hydrogen, sodium, oxygen and potassium.
14. The conditions on Mercury make it virtually impossible for life to evolve.

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