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Mercury has an ancient, heavily crated surface, resembling our own moon.
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It is very hard to see Mercury due to the glare of the Sun and the thick
hazy atmosphere of Earth. Mariner 10 passed by Mercury in 1974 and sent
back pictures of less than half of the planet.
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Huge cliffs crisscross the planet, reaching heights of one mile and
are up to 932 miles long.
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The temperature can go over 700 degrees on the sunlit side and drop
to -300 degrees on the dark side. No other planet has such a wide range
of temperature.
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It has almost no atmosphere.
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Surprisingly, scientists have found evidence for a polar ice cap on this hot little globe.
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Mercury is the fastest planet. It is believed that Mercury was named
after the messenger god because of its speed around the Sun. It takes 88
Earth days for Mercury to rotate around the Sun one time. Even though Mercury
moves around the Sun at a very fast rate, the planet itself spins around
very slowly. One day on Mercury equals 59 days on Earth. This means that
when Mercury has revolved around the Sun twice, only 3 Mercury days have
passed!
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The sun rises three times each day on Mercury.
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Often, because of its orbit, it is the closest planet to Earth.
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Mercury is about 1/3 the size of Earth.
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Its fractured surface suggests that it is shrinking.
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Mercury may contain valuable minerals.
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Mercury may one day be used to collect energy from the sun.
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