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{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin:25px 0 0 10px; border:3px solid lightsteelblue;width:250px; font-size:100%; font-family:'Arial','Helvetica'; float: right; clear: right;"Template in Orbiter"
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{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin:25px 0 0 10px; border:3px solid lightsteelblue;width:250px; font-size:90%; font-family:'Arial','Helvetica'; float: right; clear: right;"
 
!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2" align="center" |Mercury
 
!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2" align="center" |Mercury
 
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!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Designation
 
!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Designation
 
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|Name||align="right"|Mercury
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|width="30%"|Name||align="right" width="30%"|Mercury
 
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|Reference body||align="right"|Sun
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|width="30%"|Reference body||align="right" width="30%"|Sun
 
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|Number of satellites||align="right" width="30%"|0
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|width="30%"|Number of satellites||align="right" width="30%"|0
 
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!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Planetary mean orbit
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!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Physical parameters*
 
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|Epoch||align="right"|J2000 (1 January 2000)
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|width="30%"|Mass||align="right" width="50%"|3.30188×10<sup>23</sup> kg
 
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|Semimajor axis (a)||align="right" |0.38709893 AU <br> 5.790917567×10<sup>7</sup> km)
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|width="30%"|Mean Radius||align="right" width="50%"|2.44×10<sup>6</sup> m
 
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|Eccentricity (e)||align="right"|0.20563069
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|width="30%"|Gravitational moments||align="right" width="50%"|J<sub>2</sub>=6×10<sup>-5</sup>
 
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|Inclination (i)||align="right"|7.00487° <br> (0.122258 radian)
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|width="30%"|Siderial day||align="right" width="30%"|5.067×10<sup>6</sup> s
 
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|Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)||align="right"|48.33167° <br> (0.8436468 radian)
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|width="30%"|Atmosphere||align="right" width="30%"|No
 
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|Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)||align="right"|77.45645° <br> (1.351870 radian)
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!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Osculating elements (ecliptic frame)*
 
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|Mean longitude (L)||align="right"|252.25084° <br> (4.402608 radian)
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|width="30%"|Semi-major axis||align="right" width="30%"|5.7909×10<sup>10</sup> m
 
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!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Planetary orbital element centennial rates
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|width="30%"|Orbital period||align="right" width="30%"|7.601×10<sup>6</sup> s<br>(87.975 days)
 
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|Semimajor axis (a)||align="right"|0.00000066 AU/Century
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|width="30%"|Obliquity of ecliptic||align="right" width="30%"|7.01°
 
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|Eccentricity (e)||align="right"|0.00002527 Century<sup>-1</sup>
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|width="30%"|Eccentricity||align="right" width="30%"|0.20563
 
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|Inclination (i)||align="right"|-23.51 seconds/Century
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|width="30%"|Inclination||align="right" width="30%"| 7.00°
 
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|Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)||align="right"|-446.30 seconds/Century
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|width="30%"|Longitude of ascending node||align="right" width="30%"| 48.33°
 
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|Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)||align="right"|573.57 seconds/Century
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|width="30%"|Longitude of periapsis||align="right" width="30%"|77.46°
 
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|Mean longitude (L)||align="right"|538101628.29 seconds/Century
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|width="30%"|Mean Longitude||align="right" width="30%"| 165.42°
 
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!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Selected physical parameters
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|width="30%"|Precession period||align="right" width="30%"| 2726.429203 years
 
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|width="30%"|Mean radius||align="right"|2440 km
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|width="30%"|Note||align="right" width="30%"|*Parameters and Elements are from Orbiter 2016
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|Mass||align="right"|3.301880×10<sup>23</sup> kg
 
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|Density||align="right"|5.427 g/cm<sup>3</sup>
 
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|Sidereal rotation period||align="right"|1407.509 hours
 
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|Sidereal orbit period||align="right"|0.2408445 years
 
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|Magnitude V(1,0)||align="right"|-0.42
 
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|Geometric albedo||align="right"|0.106
 
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|Equatorial gravity||align="right"|3.701 m/s<sup>2</sup>
 
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|Escape velocity||align="right"|4.435 km/s
 
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|SOI radius (estimated)||align="right"|28385 km
 
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!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Rotation elements
 
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|North pole right ascension (α<sub>1</sup>)||align="right"|280.99°
 
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|North pole declination (δ<sub>1</sup>)||align="right"|61.44°
 
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|Obliquty of ecliptic||align="right"|7.01°
 
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|Longitude of Sun's transit||align="right"|228.31°
 
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|Note||align="right"|*Elements given are from Orbiter.pdf (2016)
 
 
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|}
  
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'''Mercury''' is the smallest planet in the [[Solar system|solar system]] and is the closest to the [[Sun|sun]]. Mercury is a rocky planet appearing much like the [[Moon|moon]] and has virtually no atmosphere (none is modeled in Orbiter), and has no natural satellites.
 
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Mercury was visited in 1974 and 1975 by Mariner 10 in two flybys and was again visited by MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury from 2011 to 2015 when it was deorbited. BepiColombo, a joint mission by the European Space Ageny (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploraation Agency (JAXA) was launched on 20 October 2018 and is scheduled to reach Mercury on 5 December 2025.
 
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== Orbital characteristics ==
 
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Mercury is the innermost planet in the system with a semimajor axis of 5.79×10<sup>7</sup> km. But, the orbital eccentricity is the largest of all the planets, about 0.2056, its distance ranging from 46 million to almost 70 million km from the Sun, and the inclination of its orbit is just over 7°, also largest of all the planets.
 
  
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== Physical characteristics ==
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'''Mercury''' is the smallest planet in the [[Solar system|solar system]] and is the closest to the [[Sun|sun]]. The orbital period is 87.975 days. The rotation of Mercury is tidally locked with the sun in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance. So, an observer on Mercury would see one solar day every two Mercurian years. Mercury's axial tilt is only about <sup>1</sup>/<sub>30</sub>°, and its orbital eccentricity is the largest of the eight planets at 0.20563.
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Mercury's mean radius is 2440 km, smaller than Ganymede and Titan, but more massive at a bit more than 3.3×10<sup>23</sup> kg.<ref name="Orbiter2016"/> Mercury is unique in the solar system in that it is tidally locked with the Sun in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance; it rotates three times for each two orbits around the Sun, which means that one day on Mercury is two of its years.<ref name="Orbiter2016"> Orbiter.pdf (2016)</ref> It also has the smallest axial tilt with respect to its orbit, about 2 arcminutes.  
 
  
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== Geological features ==
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Mercury is a rocky planet appearing much like the [[Moon|moon]] and has virtually no atmosphere (none is modeled in Orbiter), and has no natural satellites.
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In Orbiter 2016, Mercury is modeled as a sphere with no elevations, but visually, it has a texture and approximately 300 named features on Mercury have been included in the stock Orbiter 2016, albedo features as well as craters, ridges, plains, escarpments, valleys, and one mountain.
 
  
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See [[Geology of Mercury]] for list of features.
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Mercury was visited in 1974 and 1975 by Mariner 10 in two flybys and was again visited by MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury from 2011 to 2015 when it was deorbited. There is a plan for the BepiColombo spacecraft to visit in 2025.
  
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== Notice to pilots ==
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== Physical and orbital characteristics ==
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CAUTION! It is to be noted by pilots flying close to the ground at Mercury when approaching the North and South poles. If the vessel crosses either pole at low altitude and any great speed, errors in the simulator causes the scenario to freeze and may cause Crash to Desktop. However, if the pole is approached at very low speed, perhaps one or a few meters per second, the vessel can pass over and even land at the pole.
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Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system having a mass in Orbiter of 3.30188×10<sup>23</sup> kg, about <sup>1</sup>/<sub>18</sub>that of the earth. It's mean radius is 2440 km. Its rotation is tidally locked to its orbit such that for every two orbits, it rotates three times. An observer on the surface of Mercury would experience one day every two mercurian years.  
  
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When grounded or flying low, the DeltaGlider headlight does not light up the ground.
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Mercury's orbit is the most eccentric of all the planets at 0.20563, and the inclination of its orbit is the highest at 7°.  
  
 
== Add-ons ==
 
== Add-ons ==
  
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===== Topography and Textures =====
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* Mariner 10 - Historically the first probe to use gravitational assists and first probe to visit Mercury. It made three fly-by's of Mercury between November 1973 and March 1974, but did not enter orbit. This probe is modeled in Orbiter in an add-on made by user "missleman01": GEP - Mariner 10 <ref>[http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=510 GEP Mariner 10 at Orbit Hangar]</ref>
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/planet-mercury-level-8-high-resolution-surface.3449/ Planet Mercury Level 8 High Resolution Surface] released 19 October 2004 by BigJimW providing level 8 textures for Mercury.
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* MESSENGER - Historically the first probe to enter orbit around Mercury. After three fly-by's between January 2008 and September 2009, it entered an highly elliptical orbit around Mercury on March 18th, 2011. This probe is modeled in Orbiter in several add-ons <ref>[https://www.orbithangar.com/showAddon.php?id=dfb4c010-d4c1-4be7-8237-28b42217229a Messenger Probe Add-on at Orbit Hangar]</ref>
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* [http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=5570 Mercury Level 9 Textures at Orbit Hangar] The texture was created using mosaics of the planet Mercury with pictures taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2011
  
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/mercury-level-8-textures.3682/ Mercury level 8 textures] released 23 January 2012 by ''Felipi1205'', provides level 8 texture for Mercury.
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== References ==
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<references/>
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/mercury-heightmap-level-9-global-textures.3679/ Mercury heightmap + Level 9 global textures], released 23 April 2013 by ''4throck'', provides level 9 topogrraphy and textures for Mercury.
 
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/mercury-level-11.228/ Mercury Level 11] released 30 September 2013 by ''Post much?'' provides level 11 for Mercury.
 
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/mercury-surface-and-heightmap-tiles-for-orbiter-2016.1694/ Mercury surface and heightmap tiles for Orbiter 2016], released 1 December 2016 by ''asbjos'', provides level 7 topography and level 8 surface features for the planet. A new Mercury.cfg will load the 3D terrain, however, the existing mercury.cfg should be backed up before installation.
 
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===== Mariner 10 =====
 
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Historically the first probe to use gravitational assists and first probe to visit Mercury. It made three fly-by's of Mercury between November 1973 and March 1974, but did not enter orbit.
 
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/gep-mariner-10-to-orbiter-2010.4461/ GEP - Mariner 10 to Orbiter 2010], released 29 May 2011 by ''Felipi125''.
 
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/gep-mariner-10.1323/ GEP - Mariner 10] released 19 June 2004 by ''missleman01''.
 
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===== MESSENGER =====
 
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Historically the first probe to enter orbit around Mercury. After three fly-by's between January 2008 and September 2009, it entered an highly elliptical orbit around Mercury on March 18th, 2011.
 
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/messenger.426/ Messenger] released 26 JUne 2006 by unknown author.
 
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/messenger-moi.1569/ MESSENGER MOI] released 14 March 2011 by ''NukekET''.
 
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*[https://www.orbiter-forum.com/resources/gep-messenger.4163/ GEP-Messenger] released 7 March 2012 by ''TheXFiles19''.
 
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
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*[[w:Mariner 10|Mariner 10 mission]] at Wikipedia
 
*[[w:Mariner 10|Mariner 10 mission]] at Wikipedia
 
*[[w:MESSENGER|MESSENGER mission]] at Wikipedia
 
*[[w:MESSENGER|MESSENGER mission]] at Wikipedia
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== References ==
 
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<references/>
 
  
  
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{{Planet-Stub}}
 
{{Planet-Stub}}
  
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[[Category: Articles]]
 
 
[[Category:Solar System]]
 
[[Category:Solar System]]
 
[[Category: Planets]]
 
[[Category: Planets]]

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