Mercury


Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, was named after the Roman demi-god of the same name (Greek counterpart Hermes). Mercury was the messenger of the gods, he was small in stature, fleet of foot and very clever. Mercury had wings on his heels which enabled him to fly, and run on the surface of water.
The planet Mercury is the second smallest of our solar system's nine planets with a diameter of only about 3000 miles. Mercury has no protective atmosphere, no moon and has many craters from collisions with asteroids. The surface temperature differs widely on Mercury. The surface temperature on the side which faces the sun is thousands of degrees farenheit, in other words it's EXTREMELY hot. Conversely, the surface temperature on the side which faces away from the sun is extremely cold.

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