Mercury ☿

Mercury is closest to the Sun. Its orbit around the Sun takes 87.97 Earth days, the shortest of all the Sun’s planets. It is named after the Roman god Mercurius (Mercury), god of commerce, messenger of the gods, and mediator between gods and mortals, corresponding to the Greek god Hermes (Ἑρμῆς).

Mercury rotates in a way that is unique in the Solar System. It is tidally locked with the Sun in a 3:2 spin–orbit resonance, meaning that relative to the fixed stars, it rotates on its axis exactly three times for every two revolutions it makes around the Sun. As seen from the Sun, in a frame of reference that rotates with the orbital motion, it appears to rotate only once every two Mercurian years. An observer on Mercury would therefore see only one day every two Mercurian years.

Mercury’s axis has the smallest tilt of any of the Solar System’s planets (about 1⁄30 degree). Its orbital eccentricity is the largest of all known planets in the Solar System; at perihelion, Mercury’s distance from the Sun is only about two-thirds (or 66%) of its distance at aphelion. Mercury’s surface appears heavily cratered and is similar in appearance to the Moon’s, indicating that it has been geologically inactive for billions of years. Having almost no atmosphere to retain heat, it has surface temperatures that vary diurnally more than on any other planet in the Solar System, ranging from 100 K (−173 °C; −280 °F) at night to 700 K (427 °C; 800 °F) during the day across the equatorial regions. The polar regions are constantly below 180 K (−93 °C; −136 °F). The planet has no natural satellites.

水星(拉丁語:Mercurius),中國古稱辰星;到西漢時期,《史記‧天官書》作者天文學家司馬遷從實際觀測發現辰星呈灰色,與「五行」學說聯繫在一起,以黑色配水星,因此正式把它命名為水星。水星是太陽系的八大行星中最小和最靠近太陽的行星。軌道週期是87.9691 地球日,從地球上看,它大约116天左右與地球會合一次,公转速度遠遠超過太阳系的其他星球。水星的快速運動使它在羅馬神話中被稱為墨丘利,是快速飛行的信使神。由于大氣層极为稀薄,无法有效保存热量,水星表面昼夜温差极大,为太阳系行星之最。白天时赤道地區温度可达432°C,夜间可降至-172°C。極區气温則終年維持在-172°C以下。水星的軸傾斜是太陽系所有行星中最小的(大約1/30度),但它有最大的軌道偏心率。水星在遠日點的距離大約是在近日點的1.5倍。水星表面充滿了大大小小的坑穴,外觀看起來與月球和其他衛星相似,顯示它的地質在數十億年來都處於非活動狀態。水星无四季变化。它也是唯一與太陽軌道共振的行星。相對於恆星,它每自轉三圈的時間與它在軌道上繞行太陽兩圈的時間几乎完全相等。從太陽看水星,參照它的自轉與軌道上的公轉運動,是每兩個水星年才一個太陽日。因此,對一位在水星上的觀測者來說,一天相當於兩年。