Mercury

Computer hardware contain dangerous chemicals such as: lead, mercury, nickel, and cadmium.

Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System.

Because Mercury was the fastest planet as it moved around the Sun, it is named after the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger of the gods.

Because Mercury is normally lost in the glare of the Sun (except during a solar eclipse), Mercury can only be seen in the morning or evening twilight.

Compared to what is known about the other planets in the Solar System, little is known about Mercury.

Two spacecraft have visited Mercury: Mariner 10 flew by in 1974 and 1975;

And MESSENGER, launched in 2004, orbited Mercury over 4,000 times in four years before exhausting its fuel and crashing into the planet's surface on April 30, 2015.

The BepiColombo spacecraft is planned to arrive at Mercury in 2025.

Mercury is the most cratered planet in the Solar System.

Unlike many other planets which "self-heal" through natural geological processes, the surface of Mercury is covered in craters.

The Caloris Basin is the largest impact crater on Mercury covering approximately 1,550 km in diameter and was discovered in 1974 by the Mariner 10 probe.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury.

The largest moon is Titan, which is larger in volume than the planet Mercury.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.

Venus is the hottest planet, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.

Did you know that Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun?

Because it's so close, Mercury orbits the Sun faster than any other planet.

A year on Mercury is just 88 Earth days long!

This means if you lived on Mercury, you would have a birthday every 88 days.

Mercury is also the smallest planet in our solar system.

Venus is the hottest planet, even hotter than Mercury!

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system.

Mercury has no moons or rings.

One day on Mercury is very long.

It takes 59 Earth days for Mercury to rotate once.

But a year on Mercury is very short.