How is the Weather on Planet Mercury? A Detailed Explanation

Each planet in the solar system, like Earth, has its distinct type of weather. Because it is the closest planet to the Sun, the weather on planet Mercury is extremely hot during the daytime. Keep reading on to learn about the highest and lowest temperatures on this planet, as well as other Mercury weather facts.

What is the weather like on planet Mercury?

Understanding the Planet Mercury 

Before jumping into details about the weather on planet Mercury, it’s worth spending a few minutes learning basic things about this planet, including its size, distance to the sun, orbit, rotation, and more.

Size

With a radius of 2,440 kilometers (1,516 miles), Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system. In comparison, Mercury is only slightly larger than the size of Earth’s Moon.

Distance from the Sun

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun

How near is Mercury to the Sun? As mentioned previously, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, with an average distance of about 58 million kilometers (36 million miles). 

From this distance, according to NASA, it takes 3.2 minutes for sunlight to travel from the Sun to Mercury. 

Of course, these factors affect weather on Mercury planet!

Mercury’s orbit and rotation

As per space.com, Mercury circles around the sun every 88 Earth days, at nearly 180,000 kilometers per hour (112,000 miles per hour), faster than any other planet in our solar system. 

Mercury's oval-shaped orbit is highly elliptical, taking the planet as far to the sun as 70 million kilometers (43 million miles) and as close as 47 million kilometers (29 million miles).

Mercury’s orbit and rotation

Mercury also rotates slowly on its axis and finishes one rotation every 59 Earth days. 

One more thing to know about Mercury’s rotation is that it has the smallest tilt (just 2 degrees) of all planets in the solar system, causing this planet to lack seasons. 

Structure

Mercury is very dense. It’s the second densest planet in our solar system, just after Earth. 

Mercury is composed of a large metallic core that has a radius of about 2,074 kilometers (1,289 miles), approximately 85% of the whole planet’s radius. About the outer shell of Mercury, it’s just about 400 kilometers (or 250 miles) thick.

What is the Weather Like on Mercury?

Does Mercury have weather? How hot is it? Continue reading to find out the answer!

Atmosphere

Mercury has an extremely thin atmosphere. The planet’s atmosphere is also non-protective. That’s why, in a post about Mercury weather, univervetoday.com noted that it “has no atmosphere to speak of.”

Is there weather on Mercury?

However, Mercury does possess a thin exosphere composed mainly of oxygen, hydrogen, sodium, helium, and potassium. 

Due to the super tenuous atmosphere, Mercury does not have the weather to speak of other than the wild fluctuations in temperature. 

That means weather phenomena and conditions like storms, rain, precipitation, clouds, or winds can’t be found on the smallest planet in our solar system.

Pressure

On Earth, the differences in atmospheric pressure lead to the formation of clouds and their movement. 

However, on planet Mercury, its extremely thin atmosphere generates a pressure of about 515 times smaller than the pressure found on our Earth, as per sciencing.com.

Due to that fact, there’s no possibility of cloud formation on this planet. 

Temperature

The temperature on Mercury planet

Speaking of the weather Mercury planet, the wild fluctuations in temperature can’t be ignored. In the solar system, Mercury sees the largest diurnal temperature spread.

In actuality, the surface temperatures on the planet are both extremely hot and cold.

During the day, the temperature of Mercury can reach as high as 800°F (430°C), which is hot enough to melt lead. This is because, as noted above, Mercury is the closest to the Sun.

However, since Mercury has no atmosphere to trap the daytime heat, the night temperature can drop as low as -290°F (-183°C), which is cold enough to liquefy oxygen. 

Note that Mercury rotates so slowly; thus, its night side is shaded from the Sun for consecutively long periods.

The average temperature on Mercury is 333°F. 

More to explore: Weather on planet Jupiter Moon phases and meanings  What is the climate at the equator?

Is Mercury the Hottest Planet?

Mercury is not the hottest planet

Even though Mercury has the shortest distance to the Sun as compared to other planets, it is not the hottest planet in the solar system. 

In actuality, Mercury is just the second hottest planet, while it is the closest to the Sun. Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun, but it is the hottest one with an average temperature of 863°F (462°C). 

Despite being further from the Sun than Mercury, Venus has a very thick atmosphere to trap the Sun's heat, while Mercury has virtually no atmosphere. 

Interesting Facts about Mercury

Not only is the planet Mercury weather distinct, but the tiniest planet in our solar system also has many other amazingly unique facts. Check them out below!

• Has no moons or rings.

• Orbits the Sun the fastest of all planets. 

• Has ice

• Cannot breathe there

Must-known fact about Mercury

• Has more craters than any other planet in the solar system

• Tough place for life

• Big sun

• Robotic visitors

Wrapping up

That’s our explanation about the weather on planet Mercury. It is a very distinct planet with a distinctly extreme environment and weather. Together with things to know about Mercury weather planet, this post also included some other surprising facts about this planet; we hope you found them all informative and interesting!