Mercury orbits the Sun once every 87.97 Earth days, while one Mercurian day is equivalent to 59 Earth days. Its surface is heavily cratered, very similar to Earth’s Moon. Mercury itself doesn’t have any moons.īeing a terrestrial planet, Mercury has a high density, and it is primarily composed out of rock and iron ore. It is slightly larger than our Moon but smaller than Ganymede – one of Jupiter’s moons. Mercury is, however, the smallest planet out of the eight. Though it is the closest, it isn’t the hottest planet in the Solar System Venus holds that titled.
It is only 58 million km / 36 million mi or 0.39 AU away. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Though we must sadly disconsider Pluto, here are some quick facts about each planet of the Solar System.
Many still consider Pluto as a planet to this day. This all changed in 2006 when the Astronomical Union – IAU – finally decided on the definition of a planet.Īccording to the definition, a planet is a celestial body that is in orbit around the Sun, has enough mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium – resulting in a round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
There are, of course, the dwarf planets Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris however, they are in a different class.Īmong the dwarf planets, Pluto was listed as a planet the longest. The planets of our Solar System are listed based on their distance from the Sun. The planets in order from the Sun based on their distance are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. In our Solar System, there are eight planets.
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