Difference between revisions of "Mercury"

Revision as of 13:59, 1 September 2021

Mercury

Mercury in Orbiter
Designation
Name	Mercury
Reference body	Sun
Number of satellites	0
Planetary mean orbits
Epoch	J2000 (1 January 2000)
Semimajor axis (a)	0.38709893 AU 5.790917567×10¹⁰ km)
Eccentricity (e)	0.20563069
Inclination (i)	7.00487° (0.122258 radian)
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)	48.33167° (0.8436468 radian)
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)	77.45645° (1.351870 radian)
Mean longitude (L)	252.25084° (4.402608 radian)
Planetary orbital element centennial rates
Semimajor axis (a)	0.00000066 AU/Century
Eccentricity (e)	0.00002527 Century^-1
Inclination (i)	-23.51 seconds/Century
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)	-446.30 seconds/Century
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)	573.57 seconds/Century
Mean longitude (L)	538101628.29 seconds/Century
Selected physical parameters
Mean radius	2440 km
Mass	3.301880×10²³ kg
Density	5.427 g/cm³
Sidereal rotation period	1407.509 hours
Sidereal orbit period	0.2408445 years
Magnitude V(1,0)	-0.42
Geometric albedo	0.106
Equatorial gravity	3.701 m/s²
Escape velocity	4.435 km/s
Rotation elements
North pole right ascension (α₁₎	280.99°
North pole declination (δ₁₎	61.44°
Obliqutiy of ecliptic	7.01°
Longitude of Sun's transit	228.31°
Note	*Elements given are from Orbiter.pdf (2016)

Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system and is the closest to the sun. The orbital period is 87.975 days. The rotation of Mercury is tidally locked with the sun in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance.

Mercury is a rocky planet appearing much like the moon and has virtually no atmosphere (none is modeled in Orbiter), and has no natural satellites.

Mercury was visited in 1974 and 1975 by Mariner 10 in two flybys and was again visited by MESSENGER spacecraft orbiting Mercury from 2011 to 2015 when it was deorbited. There is a plan for the BepiColombo spacecraft to visit in 2025.

Physical and orbital characteristics

Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system having a mass in Orbiter of 3.30188×10²³ kg, about ¹/₁₈ that of the earth. It's mean radius is 2440 km. Its rotation is tidally locked to its orbit such that for every two orbits, it rotates three times. An observer on the surface of Mercury would experience one day every two mercurian years.

Mercury's orbit is the most eccentric of all the planets at 0.20563, and the inclination of its orbit is the highest at 7°.

Add-ons

Mariner 10 - Historically the first probe to use gravitational assists and first probe to visit Mercury. It made three fly-by's of Mercury between November 1973 and March 1974, but did not enter orbit. This probe is modeled in Orbiter in an add-on made by user "missleman01": GEP - Mariner 10 ^[1]
MESSENGER - Historically the first probe to enter orbit around Mercury. After three fly-by's between January 2008 and September 2009, it entered an highly elliptical orbit around Mercury on March 18th, 2011. This probe is modeled in Orbiter in several add-ons ^[2]
Mercury level 7 topography and level 8 textures at Orbit Hangar
Mercury Level 8 texture at Orbit Hangar
Mercury Level 9 Textures at Orbit Hangar The texture was created using mosaics of the planet Mercury with pictures taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2011
Mercury Level 11 texture at Orbit Hangar

References

External links

Mercury at Wikipedia
Mariner 10 mission at Wikipedia
MESSENGER mission at Wikipedia

edit The Solar System
Central star	Sun (Sol)
Planets	Mercury - Venus - Earth - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune
Natural satellites	Moon - Phobos - Deimos - Io - Europa - Ganymede - Titan - more...
Add-ons	Planets - Dwarf Planets - Small objects - Natural satellites - Alternative star systems

This article, about a planet, is a stub. You can help Orbiterwiki by expanding it.

[1] GEP Mariner 10 at Orbit Hangar

[2] Messenger Probe Add-on at Orbit Hangar

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin:25px 0 0 10px; border:3px solid lightsteelblue;width:250px; font-size:90%; font-family:'Arial','Helvetica'; float: right; clear: right;"
+{| cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin:25px 0 0 10px; border:3px solid lightsteelblue;width:250px; font-size:90%; font-family:'Arial','Helvetica'; float: right; clear: right;"Template in Orbiter"
 !bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2" align="center" |Mercury
 |-
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 !bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Designation
 |-
-|width="30%"|Name||align="right" width="30%"|Mercury
+|Name||align="right"|Mercury
 |-
 |width="30%"|Reference body||align="right" width="30%"|Sun
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 |width="30%"|Number of satellites||align="right" width="30%"|0
 |-
-!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Physical parameters*
+!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Planetary mean orbits
 |-
-|width="30%"|Mass||align="right" width="50%"|3.301880×10<sup>23</sup> kg
+|width="30%"|Epoch||align="right" width="50%"|J2000 (1 January 2000)
 |-
-|width="30%"|Mean Radius||align="right" width="50%"|2.44×10<sup>6</sup> m
+|width="30%"|Semimajor axis (a)||align="right" width="50%"|0.38709893 AU <br> 5.790917567×10<sup>10</sup> km)
 |-
-|width="30%"|Density||align="right" width="50%"|5.427 g/cm<sup>3</sup>
+|width="30%"|Eccentricity (e)||align="right" width="30%"|0.20563069
 |-
-|width="30%"|Gravitational moments||align="right" width="50%"|J<sub>2</sub>=6×10<sup>-5</sup>
+|width="30%"|Inclination (i)||align="right" width="30%"|7.00487° <br> (0.122258 radian)
 |-
-|width="30%"|Siderial day||align="right" width="30%"|5.067032×10<sup>6</sup> s
+|width="30%"|Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)||align="right" width="30%"|48.33167° <br> (0.8436468 radian)
 |-
-|width="30%"|Equatorial gravity||align="right" width="30%"|3.701 m/s<sup>2</sup>
+|width="30%"|Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)||align="right" width="30%"|77.45645° <br> (1.351870 radian)
+|-
+|width="30%"|Mean longitude (L)||align="right" width="30%"|252.25084° <br> (4.402608 radian)
+|-
+!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Planetary orbital element centennial rates
+|-
+|width="30%"|Semimajor axis (a)||align="right" width="50%"|0.00000066 AU/Century
+|-
+|width="30%"|Eccentricity (e)||align="right" width="50%"|0.00002527 Century<sup>-1</sup>
+|-
+|width="30%"|Inclination (i)||align="right" width="30%"|-23.51 seconds/Century
+|-
+|width="30%"|Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)||align="right" width="30%"|-446.30 seconds/Century
+|-
+|width="30%"|Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)||align="right" width="30%"|573.57 seconds/Century
+|-
+|width="30%"|Mean longitude (L)||align="right" width="30%"|538101628.29 seconds/Century
+|-
+!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Selected physical parameters
+|-
+|width="30%"|Mean radius||align="right" width="30%"|2440 km
+|-
+|width="30%"|Mass||align="right" width="30%"|3.301880×10<sup>23</sup> kg
 |-
-|width="30%"|Escape velocity||align="right" width="30%"|4435 km/s
+|width="30%"|Density||align="right" width="30%"|5.427 g/cm<sup>3</sup>
 |-
-|width="30%"|Atmosphere||align="right" width="30%"|No
+|width="30%"|Sidereal rotation period||align="right" width="30%"|1407.509 hours
 |-
-!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Osculating elements (ecliptic frame)*
+|width="30%"|Sidereal orbit period||align="right" width="30%"|0.2408445 years
 |-
-|width="30%"|Semi-major axis||align="right" width="30%"|5.7909×10<sup>10</sup> m (0.38709893 au)
+|width="30%"|Magnitude V(1,0)||align="right" width="30%"|-0.42
 |-
-|width="30%"|Orbital period||align="right" width="30%"|7.601×10<sup>6</sup> s<br>(87.975 days)
+|width="30%"|Geometric albedo||align="right" width="30%"|0.106
 |-
-|width="30%"|Obliquity of ecliptic||align="right" width="30%"|7.01°
+|width="30%"|Equatorial gravity||align="right" width="30%"|3.701 m/s<sup>2</sup>
 |-
-|width="30%"|Eccentricity||align="right" width="30%"|0.20563069
+|width="30%"|Escape velocity||align="right" width="30%"|4.435 km/s
 |-
-|width="30%"|Inclination||align="right" width="30%"| 7.00487°
+!bgcolor="lightsteelblue" colspan="2"|Rotation elements
 |-
-|width="30%"|Precession period||align="right" width="30%"| 9.958282664×10<sup>5</sup> days (2726.429203 years)
+|width="30%"|North pole right ascension (α<sub>1</sup>)||align="right" width="30%"|280.99°
 |-
-|width="30%"|Longitude of ascending node (Epoch 2000 January 1.5)||align="right" width="30%"|48.33167°
+|width="30%"|North pole declination (δ<sub>1</sup>)||align="right" width="30%"|61.44°
 |-
-|width="30%"|Longitude of periapsis (Epoch 2000 January 1.5)||align="right" width="30%"|77.45645°
+|width="30%"|Obliqutiy of ecliptic||align="right" width="30%"|7.01°
 |-
-|width="30%"|Mean Longitude (Epoch 2000 January 1.5)||align="right" width="30%"|252.25084°
+|width="30%"|Longitude of Sun's transit||align="right" width="30%"|228.31°
 |-
-|width="30%"|Note||align="right" width="30%"|*Parameters and Elements are from Orbiter 2016
+|width="30%"|Note||align="right" width="30%"|*Elements given are from Orbiter.pdf (2016)
 |}

Difference between revisions of "Mercury"

Revision as of 13:59, 1 September 2021

Contents

Physical and orbital characteristics

Add-ons

References

External links

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