(GTI - Schatztruhe)[!][Oct 2001].iso/Aminet/docs/hyper/SolarHTML.lha/solarhtml/pic/mercury.jpg)
| Average Distance From Sun: | 58 Million KM |
| Nearest Distance to Earth: | 85 Million KM |
| Temperature on Sunlit Side: | 400°C |
| Temperature on Dark Side: | -170°C |
| Diameter: | 4880 KM |
| Mass: | 0.056 Earth Standard |
| Gravity: | 0.38 Earth Standard |
| Atmosphere: | Traces of Helium, Neon, Argon |
| Moons: | None |
| Mercury Year: | 88 Earth Days |
| Mercury Days: | 59 Earth Days |
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
In 1974 the US space probe Mariner 10
discovered that its surface is cratered by meteorite impacts.
Its largest known feature is the Caloris Basin, 1,400 km,
There are also cliffs hundreds of kilometres long and up to 4 km high, thought to have been formed by the cooling of the planet billions of years ago.
Inside is an iron core three-quarters of the planet's diameter, which produces a magnetic field 1% the strength of the Earth's.
Being the closest planet to the sun, Mercury has to endure extremely high temperatures and any atmosphere there may have been, would have been burnt off long ago.