Although there are nine planets in our solar system, only one planet has the distinction of being the closest planet to the sun. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. In roman mythology, Mercury is the god of travel and thievery, the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes, messenger of the Gods. The planet probably received this name because it moves so quickly across the sky.
Discovering Mercury.
Johann Hieronymus Schroeter was the first to observe the planet Mercury and record detailed drawings of Mercury's surface features. Schroeter lived from 1745 to 1816. Unfortunately, his sketches were not very accurate (Vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/she/mercury.html). An astronomer by the name of Eugenios Antoniadi (1870-1944) charted the surface of Mercury in great detail. His maps were used for almost 50 years. He used one of the stronger telescopes of his time and found the canals to be optical illusions (Vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/she/mercury.html).
Facts About Mercury.
Mercury is so close to the sun that you can only see it near sunrise or sunset. Mercury is approximately 57.9 million km from the sun. It is just over a third as far from the sun as the Earth is. If you were on the surface of Mercury, the Sun would look almost three times as big as it does from Earth (www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/). .
Mercury is approximately 3,031 miles in diameter, which makes it the second smallest planet in our Solar system. Mercury is a bit over one third of the diameter of Earth. Mercury's mass is 3.3 x 10e23kg, which is roughly one twentieth of the mass of Earth. The gravity on Mercury is 38% of the gravity on Earth. A 100 pound person on Mercury would weigh only 38 pounds (www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/). .
Mercury has a very weak atmosphere and has no moons. Within the atmosphere of Mercury there are trace amounts of helium, hydrogen, sodium, potassium and oxygen. Compared to most planets" atmospheres, Mercury is basically nonexistent.
Mercury metal has many uses. ... Mercury is well-known in the environment. We take in mercury in every mouthful of food we eat. ... There is, however, one form of mercury called methyl mercury, which is particularly dangerous. ... Avoid spillage and evaporation by covering containers of mercury and when heating mercury or mercury compounds it should be done under a well ventilated hood. ...
Mercury is named from the Greek god Mercury who was the messenger to the gods and was known for his speed; Hg comes from mercury's Latin name Hydrargyrum, which comes from the Greek word "hydrargyros" ("hydor" for water and "argyros" for silver). Mercury is one of the seven metals of alchemy (gold, silver, mercury, copper, lead, iron & tin). ... Mercury has many unique physical properties. ... Mercury has approximately eleven isotopes. ... In 1971, the United States' output of mercury was 1000 tons. ...
Mercury, (HG) is a most unusual metal. ... Mercury vapor is hazardous. ... Mercury presents a hazard to those who work with it. ... Farmers use seeds treated with compounds of mercury. ... Thus tied up, the mercury cannot attack vital enzymes. ...
Mercury Mercury is a unique element because it remains liquid at room temperature (Environment Canada 2002). ... Mercury most frequently occurs as cinnabar, which is the chief ore mineral of mercury (Environment Canada 2003). ... Mercury Cycle Mercury is cycled and recycled through a complex biogeochemical cycle (Environment Canada 2004). ... Standards for base metal smelters and incinerators, mercury-containing lamps and mercury from dental amalgam wastes have been developed. ... Reducing Mercury Levels The statement "there is no away when you throw something away " is very tr...
The main solution to get rid of worldwide mercury emissions and mercury poisoning is to limit the use of mercury, for example, in dental practice and gold mining. ... Mercury poisoning is a problem because water and fish get contaminated with mercury and are then consumed by humans, so if mercury use were limited, there would be less people poisoned by the fish. ... Mercury use is also prevalent in gold mining. ... Although it contains mercury, it is different than the mercury that has poisoned children, so while that kind of mercury should be limited, thiomersal should not be, and should be a...
This report is going to be based on the NASA Mercury Program. ... (Mercury 1) The first Mercury spacecraft was a single-passenger, cone-shaped capsule, 2 m (9.5 ft) long and 1.9 m (6.2 ft) in diameter, with a 90-cm (35-in) long cylinder mounted on top. ... (Mercury 2) The first flight, Mercury-Redstone 3, was flown by Astronaut Alan B. ... Mercury-Atlas 6 was flown in the friendship 7 on February 20th 1962 by, John H. ... The last flight in the mercury program was the Mercury-Atlas 9. ...
I found an article in the San Francisco Chronicle that was about the level of mercury in the fish that we buy in the bay area. ... The article, entitled " Mercury in the fish we buy, or catch in the bay", gave information about four different species of fish that contain a high mercury level. ... This means that the people who cannot afford choices in their food supply become highly at risk for the exposure to mercury. ... It is unfortunate that the fish carry a high mercury level and that low-income families are affected by this. Perhaps there are methods to reduce the level of mercury in...
Organic mercury is mercury combined with carbon. ... Inorganic mercury is mercury that is combined with non-carbon substances. Mercury salts are one kind of inorganic. ... Organic mercury is more dangerous than inorganic mercury. However, many inorganic mercury compounds can be converted to the organic form of Mercury. ...
Or did the Mercury Theatre broadcast play against people's media literacy? ... Understanding War of the Worlds The Mercury Theatre Broadcast of October 30, 1938 is the most famous radio broadcast of all time. ... Well's 1898 novel "War of the Worlds" on the radio series "Mercury Theatre of the Air". ... The Mercury Theatre of the Air regularly adapted novels to perform for this radio program. ...
