Difference between revisions of "Mercury"

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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.
 
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.
  
== Physical and orbital characteristics ==
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== Orbital characteristics ==
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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Mercury is the innermost planet in the system. Mercury in Orbiter has the following orbital characteristics at Epoch J2000 (2000 January 01).
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{|class="wikitable" border="2" style="text-align: center"
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|||Semimajor axis||Eccentricity||Inclination||Longitude of the <br> ascending node||Longitude of <br> periapsis||Mean longitude
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|-
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|||0.38709893 AU <br> 5.7894376×10<sup>10</sup> km||0.20563069||7.00487°||48.33167°||77.45645°||252.25084 <br> "/Century
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|-
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|Precession rate||0.00000066 <br> AU/Century||0.00002527 <br> 1/Century||-23.51 <br> "/Century||-446.30 <br> "/Century||573.57 <br> "/Century||538101628.29 <br> "/Century
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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 ==

Revision as of 14:32, 1 September 2021

Mercury
MercuryScrshot.jpg
Mercury in Orbiter
Designation
Name Mercury
Reference body Sun
Number of satellites 0
Planetary mean orbits
Epoch J2000 (1 January 2000)
Semimajor axis (a) 0.38709893 AU
5.790917567×1010 km)
Eccentricity (e) 0.20563069
Inclination (i) 7.00487°
(0.122258 radian)
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊) 48.33167°
(0.8436468 radian)
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ) 77.45645°
(1.351870 radian)
Mean longitude (L) 252.25084°
(4.402608 radian)
Planetary orbital element centennial rates
Semimajor axis (a) 0.00000066 AU/Century
Eccentricity (e) 0.00002527 Century-1
Inclination (i) -23.51 seconds/Century
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊) -446.30 seconds/Century
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ) 573.57 seconds/Century
Mean longitude (L) 538101628.29 seconds/Century
Selected physical parameters
Mean radius 2440 km
Mass 3.301880×1023 kg
Density 5.427 g/cm3
Sidereal rotation period 1407.509 hours
Sidereal orbit period 0.2408445 years
Magnitude V(1,0) -0.42
Geometric albedo 0.106
Equatorial gravity 3.701 m/s2
Escape velocity 4.435 km/s
Rotation elements
North pole right ascension (α1) 280.99°
North pole declination (δ1) 61.44°
Obliqutiy of ecliptic 7.01°
Longitude of Sun's transit 228.31°
Note *Elements given are from Orbiter.pdf (2016)


Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system and is the closest to the 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.

Mercury is a rocky planet appearing much like the moon and has virtually no atmosphere (none is modeled in Orbiter), and has no natural satellites.

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.

Orbital characteristics

Mercury is the innermost planet in the system. Mercury in Orbiter has the following orbital characteristics at Epoch J2000 (2000 January 01).

Semimajor axis Eccentricity Inclination Longitude of the
ascending node
Longitude of
periapsis
Mean longitude
0.38709893 AU
5.7894376×1010 km
0.20563069 7.00487° 48.33167° 77.45645° 252.25084
"/Century
Precession rate 0.00000066
AU/Century
0.00002527
1/Century
-23.51
"/Century
-446.30
"/Century
573.57
"/Century
538101628.29
"/Century


Add-ons

References

External links


edit The Solar System
Central star

Sun (Sol)

Planets

Mercury - Venus - Earth - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune

Natural satellites

Moon - Phobos - Deimos - Io - Europa - Ganymede - Titan - more...

Add-ons

Planets - Dwarf Planets - Small objects - Natural satellites - Alternative star systems

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