Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
On the dark side of the planet, temperatures average 110 K. [15] [81] The intensity of sunlight on Mercury's surface ranges between 4.59 and 10.61 times the solar constant (1,370 W·m −2). [82] Although daylight temperatures at the surface of Mercury are generally extremely high, observations strongly suggest that ice (frozen water) exists on ...
Mercury, being the closest to the Sun, with a weak magnetic field and the smallest mass of the recognized terrestrial planets, has a very tenuous and highly variable atmosphere (surface-bound exosphere) containing hydrogen, helium, oxygen, sodium, calcium, potassium and water vapor, with a combined pressure level of about 10 −14 bar (1 nPa ...
The geology of Mercury is the scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Mercury. It emphasizes the composition, structure, history, and physical processes that shape the planet. It is analogous to the field of terrestrial geology. In planetary science, the term geology is used in its broadest sense to mean the study of ...
Planetary equilibrium temperature. The planetary equilibrium temperature is a theoretical temperature that a planet would be if it were in radiative equilibrium, typically under the assumption that it radiates as a black body being heated only by its parent star. In this model, the presence or absence of an atmosphere (and therefore any ...
According to NASA, Mercury is not a suitable planet for Earth-like life. It has a surface boundary exosphere instead of a layered atmosphere, extreme temperatures that range from 800 °F (430 °C) during the day to -290 °F (-180 °C) during the night, and high solar radiation.
The transit of Mercury on May 9, 2016. Mercury is visible to the lower left of center. A sun spot is visible above center. Mercury transiting the Sun as viewed by the rover Curiosity on Mars (June 3, 2014). [1] A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet.
Albert Einstein proposed [3][4] three tests of general relativity, subsequently called the "classical tests" of general relativity, in 1916: the perihelion precession of Mercury 's orbit. the deflection of light by the Sun. the gravitational redshift of light. In the letter to The Times (of London) on November 28, 1919, he described the theory ...
Because of the retrograde rotation, the length of a solar day on Venus is significantly shorter than the sidereal day, at 116.75 Earth days (making the Venusian solar day shorter than Mercury's 176 Earth days — the 116-day figure is close to the average number of days it takes Mercury to slip underneath the Earth in its orbit [the number of ...