Hey, welcome back to my space series! If you haven’t seen my first article, here’s a link. Now that we’ve gone over Earth, we should go to the very first planet from the sun, Mercury!
Position
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, at a distance of about 36 million miles away from it. That seems very big to us humans, but in astronomical terms, it’s very small. (Astronomical is a fancy word for space science, also known as astronomy.) Because of how close the planet is, it takes sunlight 3.2 minutes to reach the surface of Mercury. And because of that, Mercury has the shortest year, at 88 Earth days. Also, because of the position, the temperatures on the planet are very high. That kills all possibilities for life. Quite literally.
Leaning into the temperature side of things…
Temperature
Due to being so close to the sun, Mercury’s daytime temperatures can reach up to 800℉ (427 degrees C). While not the hottest planet, (that award goes to Venus, my next article) it’s certainly enough to cook someone alive. Nighttime temperatures, on the other hand, can be as cold as -290℉ (-179 degrees C). This is because Mercury has no atmosphere to keep heat in. The atmosphere was burned away by the sun due to Mercury’s proximity (fancy word for distance) to it.
By the way, if you have any questions about space, you can try and find me and I’ll answer the best way I can.
Link to source: Mercury: Facts
Farewell!
