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The Earth and Beyond

The Planets - Mercury.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.

The information below is included to let you know
a little more about the planets in our solar system.
You will not be expected to remember this information for the exam.

Mercury spins on its axis slowly compared to the Earth,
making one complete turn in about 59 days.
Since its orbit time is only 88 days,
Mercury only turns about 1·5 times during one orbit.
For long periods of time, Mercury has one side facing the Sun
and the other facing out into space.
The "sunny" side reaches a temperature of 430°C,
the "night" side falls to -180°C.

Mercury has very little atmosphere and no moons.
 (see Summary for further information).

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