Our Solar System

MERCURY
MERCURY BASICS

Mercury is the smallest and

closest to the Sun of the
eight planets in the Solar
System with an orbital period
of about 88 Earth days. Seen
from Earth, it appears to
move around its orbit in
about 116 days, which is
much faster than any other
planet in the Solar System. It
has no known natural
satellites The planet is
named after the Roman
deity Mercury the
messenger to the gods.
MERCURY OBSERVATION
Mercury appear as a
morning or evening star
from Earth, but due its
proximity to Sun, it is very
hard to see. Still, Mercury
can be observed at least
twice a year: In spring at
dust and in autumn before
dawn.
 MERCURY STRUCTURE
Mercury is one of four terrestrial
planets in the Solar System,
and is a rocky body like Earth.
It is the smallest planet in the
Solar System, with an
equatorial radius of 2,439.7
kilometres (1,516.0 mi). Mercury
is also smaller albeit more
massive than the largest
natural satellites in the Solar
System, Ganymede and Titan.
Mercury consists of
approximately 70% metallic
and 30% silicate material.
Mercury's density is the second
highest in the Solar System at
5.427 g/cm3, only slightly less
than Earth's density of
5.515 g/cm3. If the effect of
gravitational compression
Internal structure of Mercury:
were to be factored out, the 1. Crust: 100200 km thick
materials of which Mercury is 2. Mantle: 600 km thick
made would be denser, with 3. Core: 1,800 km radius
an uncompressed density of
 SUN
The Sun is the star at the
center of the Solar System and
is by far the most important
source of energy for life on
Earth. It is a nearly perfect
spherical ball of hot plasma
with internal convective
motion that generates a
magnetic field via a dynamo
process Its diameter is about
109 times that of Earth and it
has a mass about 330,000
times that of Earth, accounting
for about 99.86% of the total
mass of the Solar
System.Chemically, about
three quarters of the Sun's
mass consists of hydrogen
whereas the rest is mostly
helium and much smaller
quantities of heavier elements,
including oxygen, carbon,
 The core of the Sun extends from the center to about 2025% of the solar radius. It has a density of up to
150 g/cm3 (about 150 times the density of water) and a temperature of close to 15.7 million kelvin (K). By
contrast, the Sun's surface temperature is approximately 5,800 K. Recent analysis of SOHO mission data
favors a faster rotation rate in the core than in the rest of the radiative zone. Through most of the Sun's life,
energy is produced by nuclear fusion in the core region through a series of steps called the pp (proton
proton) chain; this process converts hydrogen into helium. Only 0.8% of the energy generated in the Sun
comes from the CNO cycle, though this proportion is expected to increase as the Sun gets older.