On average, Mercury is our nearest planetary neighbour

[Mation]

Last year's news, but I missed it and can't find mention on here ...

Apparently Mercury, not Venus is our nearest planet, most of the time. Yes, Venus remains our closest companion in terms of orbital distance from the sun, but Mercury spends more time actually closer-by to us, cos it zooms around, hugging Sol and lapping Venus, (if I've understood vaguely correctly).

And! Mercury is every planet's nearest neighbour, to boot (in this solar system, obvs).

Turns Out Mercury Might Actually Be Earth's Closest Neighbouring Planet

We often think of Venus as our closest Solar System sibling.

www.sciencealert.com

Lovely stuff!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

It's topology is also beautiful (this is in false colour sadly)

 

[farmerbarleymow]

 

[farmerbarleymow]

This is interesting - reasons behind the names of planetary features.

Planetary Names

planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov

 

[Steel Icarus]

It might be technically correct but technically I've got very slightly fewer than two legs and two eyes.

 

[Steel Icarus]

Mercury is very interesting though. Largest difference between highest and lowest temperatures as it's tidally locked (the same side always faces the sun).

 

[maomao]

It might be technically correct but technically I've got very slightly fewer than two legs and two eyes.

How do you manage that then? Personally I have more than the average number of legs.

 

[Steel Icarus]

How do you manage that then? Personally I have more than the average number of legs.

:-O

 

[planetgeli]

It might be technically correct but technically I've got very slightly fewer than two legs and two eyes.

Sorry to hear this.

This week I learned Mercury has hundreds of craters and most are named after famous artists, writers and composers. The person must have been famous for more than 50 years and dead for more than 3.

 

[strung out]

How do you manage that then? Personally I have more than the average number of legs.

Same here. Not sure how S☼I has only slightly less than the average number of eyes and legs, but I'm sure there's a good story behind it!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Personally I have more than the average number of legs.

Are you a human centipede?

 

[Steel Icarus]

Same here. Not sure how S☼I has only slightly less than the average number of eyes and legs, but I'm sure there's a good story behind it!

Fewer.

Well, some people have one eye or one leg. So on average I have slightly fewer than two.

 

[Steel Icarus]

Same here. Not sure how S☼I has only slightly less than the average number of eyes and legs, but I'm sure there's a good story behind it!

I haven't got fewer than average, I have on average fewer etc

 

[maomao]

Fewer.

Well, some people have one eye or one leg. So on average I have slightly fewer than two.

You've still got two. It's the average that's < 2.

 

[Steel Icarus]

Damnit. Out-pedanted!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

You've still got two. It's the average that's < 2.

Depends what you define as a leg. It would have to be removed at the hip to count as lacking a leg, so a portion of a leg is still a leg, albeit shorter than normal.

 

[Steel Icarus]

Depends what you define as a leg. It would have to be removed at the hip to count as lacking a leg, so a portion of a leg is still a leg, albeit shorter than normal.

Are you claiming there are more people with three legs than have a leg removed at the hip?

 

[maomao]

Depends what you define as a leg. It would have to be removed at the hip to count as lacking a leg, so a portion of a leg is still a leg, albeit shorter than normal.

Have you ever met anyone with three legs?

 

[Steel Icarus]

I love Mercury, I love all the planets. Only Neptune and Pluto I haven't seen with my own two eyes. When I first saw Saturn through my scope I set an alarm for 4 a.m. and did a happy dance afterwards

 

[JimW]

Jake the Pake intensifies.

 

[WouldBe]

Fewer.

Well, some people have one eye or one leg. So on average I have slightly fewer than two.

Are you a pirate?

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Are you claiming there are more people with three legs than have a leg removed at the hip?

Loads of them - you can spot them because their walking is slightly out of sync on two legs due to the underlying anatomical structures and muscles still thinking they have three legs.

 

[Mation]

It might be technically correct but technically I've got very slightly fewer than two legs and two eyes.

This isn't just a technicality though. Mercury spends more time closer to Earth than Venus does, if I've got it right. It's about working out the distance between the planets rather than working out how far away each orbits the sun.

Or did you just want to say you've got fewer than two eyes despite having two eyes?

 

[Steel Icarus]

This isn't just a technicality though. Mercury spends more time closer to Earth than Venus does, if I've got it right. It's about working out the distance between the planets rather than working out how far away each orbits the sun.

Or did you just want to say you've got fewer than two eyes despite having two eyes?

Yes

 

[Mation]

Or despite having more than one eye, even!

 

[2hats]

I think you'll find the Moon is our nearest neighbour.

 

[NoXion]

Mercury is very interesting though. Largest difference between highest and lowest temperatures as it's tidally locked (the same side always faces the sun).

Nope. Mercury is in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, rotating three times for every two revolutions around the Sun.

 

[maomao]

I think you'll find the Moon is our nearest neighbour.

That's like saying my nearest neighbour is my shed. Why not a man made sattelite that's even nearer?

 

[NoXion]

Also, despite being technically the closest, Mercury is one of the harder planets to reach with spacecraft. Its relatively small and tight orbit around the Sun demands that any craft attempting to reach Mercury must accelerate a lot, and then decelerate a lot within a small margin for error because the planet is so small and fast-moving.

Despite this, Mercury has the potential to become a premier industrial powerhouse within a future Solar civilisation. A small airless world that's more dense in minerals and metals yet has lower gravity, with plentiful solar energy. There's probably loads of uranium and thorium there as well. Possibly Helium-3 in the Mercurian regolith. Thanks to the planet's near-zero axial tilt, there's even water ice in the permanently shadowed areas around the poles, making habitation of Mercury by bog-standard humans easier than it would have been otherwise. Conversely, there may also be regions of constant sunshine, so-called "Peaks of Eternal Light", which would aid in the settlement and exploitation of the planet.

It is a harsh world to be sure, but it contains treasures enough for the determined and industrious.

 

[Mation]

I think you'll find the Moon is our nearest neighbour.

Indeed. Though I think it was clear I meant planets, not moons. However, I have edited the thread title, just for you