The planet closest to the sun is Mercury, and it’s also the smallest planet in our solar system. Its diameter is about 3,032 miles or 4,880 kilometers, and it is smaller than half the size of Earth, which is about 7,926 miles or 12,756 km in diameter.

Mercury surely lacks in size, but its speed makes up for it. Mercury revolves around the sun faster than any other planet in the solar system.

Mercury has an exosphere Instead of a full atmosphere. The name is given only to the thin outer layer of Earth’s atmosphere. According to NASA, Mercury’s exosphere is formed by solar wind and meteoroid strikes blasting atoms off its surface. Mercury gets very little protection through the exosphere from objects like asteroids. The planet is filled with craters, so it looks similar to Earth’s moon. There are no moons that revolve around Mercury, and according to the Natural History Museum in London -because it’s close to the sun, its gravity, therefore, ls them away.

Jean-Luc Margot says, “The idea that the gravity from these very distant bodies affects our lives in some way just doesn’t work in the framework of physics,” She’s a professor of astronomy and planetary science at the University of California, Los Angeles, previously told Live Science.

However, there’s still so much to learn about Mercury, but there’s no reason to consider it harbors life. According to NASA, Mercury’s extreme temperatures and its abundance of solar radiation are likely too much for any living organisms to withstand.
Mercury’s surface consists of minerals with groups of bonded oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) atoms called hydroxyls. They get charged in the sun’s extreme heat and start colliding to create water (H2O) molecules.

Although the sun also breaks down these molecules, it also creates some drift around the planet, thereby resulting in the formation of cold craters at the poles to form ice.

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Alice Jane
Alice is the Chief Editor with relevant experience of three years, Alice has founded Galaxy Reporters. She has a keen interest in the field of science. She is the pillar behind the in-depth coverages of Science news. She has written several papers and high-level documentation.

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