History UsefulNotes / Mercury

Mercury's future is a bleak one, as most projections have it [[http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/will-mercury-hit-earth-someday/ flinging itself outwards]] away from the Sun, with a strong possibility Earth will be in its cross-sights[[note]]The probabilities of Mercury going haywire are actually [[http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/09/good-news-earthlings-planet-mercury-probably-won-t-kill-us around 1%]], and even if that was going to happen the linked article suggests it would most likely crash into the Sun or Venus, so it seems much more likely the Sun will [[PlanetEater try the taste of Mercury]] once it goes red giant more than seven billion years from now.[[/note]].

Mercury's future is a bleak one, as most projections have it [[http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/will-mercury-hit-earth-someday/ flinging itself outwards]] away from the Sun, with a strong possibility Earth will be in its cross-sights.

* Creator/KimStanleyRobinson has several stories take place on Mercury, including ''2312'', where civilization depends on a MercurialBase in the form of the city of Terminator, which survives the extreme temperature changes by traveling around the planet on a giant pair of tracks, keeping itself in the survivable zone through keeping just ahead of the Sun.

* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', specifically the fifth, sixth, and seventh cantos of ''Paradiso'', portrays Mercury as a planet inhabited by the souls of good rulers who were too focused on politics, like [[UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire Emperor Justinian]]. During the time Dante travels to Mercury, the planet is covered by Earth's shadow.

* ''[[Creator/LarryNiven The Coldest Place]]'', which was a BaitAndSwitch in that until the end the location wasn't referred to by name, and was just called "the coldest place in the solar system"--which made readers think it was Pluto until the dramatic reveal that it was actually Mercury's dark side. The story had the misfortune, however, in being published (not written) [[ScienceMarchesOn just after it was found to not be tidally locked.]]

* Kim Stanley Robinson has several stories take place on Mercury, including ''2312'', where civilization depends on a MercurialBase in the form of the city of Terminator, which survives the extreme temperature changes by traveling around the planet on a giant pair of tracks, keeping itself in the survivable zone through keeping just ahead of the Sun.

->''I had rather be Mercury, the smallest among seven [planets], revolving round the sun, than the first among five [moons] revolving round Saturn.''
-->--— Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe (1749-1832)

Only two probes have made it to Mercury so far, both from UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} (Mariner 10 in 1974, and MESSENGER in 2008)--despite being close to Earth compared to the outer planets, it takes a lot of energy to cancel our home's orbital momentum and "fall in" towards the Sun. As a side note, features on Mercury are generally named after intellectuals--artist, painters, writers, and so forth.

->I had rather be Mercury, the smallest among seven [planets], revolving round the sun, than the first among five [moons] revolving round Saturn.

-->--— Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe

The planet is geologically inactive today, mostly covered in craters, although a few remains of possible volcanoes and faults are found on the surface. Despite the inactivity, the planet has a magnetic field, although one much weaker the {{UsefulNotes/Earth}}'s. Some activity may be due to the contraction of the planet over time.

Mercury is a planet of massive extremes: the side facing the sun is incredibly hot, but the side facing away from the sun is incredibly ''cold'', up to -200 degrees. ''Ice'' has been found in the shadows of craters on Mercury's surface. In fact, the only hot parts of Mercury are the parts directly in the path of the Sun's radiation. Since the planet's wisp of an atmosphere can't hold or convect any significant amount of heat, anything in shadow is very cold. How cold? There's ''ice'' in the nooks and crannies of the planet where the Sun doesn't shine. It's still not livable by any means, but it makes the planet far more interesting to astronomers.

Only two probes have made it to Mercury so far, both from NASA (Mariner 10 in 1974, and MESSENGER in 2008) - despite being close to Earth compared to the outer planets, it takes a lot of energy to cancel our home's orbital momentum and "fall in" towards the Sun. As a side note, features on Mercury are generally named after intellectuals - artist, painters, writers, and so forth.

!!Mercury in Fiction

* ''[[LarryNiven The Coldest Place]]'', which was a BaitAndSwitch in that until the end the location wasn't referred to by name, and was just called "the coldest place in the solar system"- which made readers think it was Pluto until the dramatic reveal that it was actually Mercury's dark side. The story had the misfortune, however, in being published (not written) [[ScienceMarchesOn just after it was found to not be tidally locked.]]
* Several of IsaacAsimov's short stories, including

* ''Iceworld'' by HalClement has a gang of aliens set up base on the hot side of Mercury for their drug operation. Since [[BizarreAlienBiology they're aliens]], they still need to set up a system of mirrors to concentrate the sunlight to keep things warm enough for them.

* On ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' its been turned into a giant spaceship by the (who else?) Martians. Zim and Dib proceed to have a space battle using Mars (which has also been turned into a ship) and Mercury, respectively.

* On ''InvaderZim'' its been turned into a giant spaceship by the (who else?) Martians. Zim and Dib proceed to have a space battle using Mars (which has also been turned into a ship) and Mercury, respectively.

It was expected that the planet would be tidally locked to the Sun, with one side always facing the Sun and the other always facing away, but the planet actually rotates in a 2:3 ratio with its orbital time. The orbit itself is unusually eccentric, and the movement of this orbit was an unexplained mystery that was finally solved by general relativity. Because of this longstanding belief, most depictions of Mercury can be summed up as pre-1965 (Mercury as a tidally locked planet with permanent "hot" and "cold" sides) and post-1965.

Mercury is a planet of massive extremes: the side facing the sun is incredibly hot, but the side facing away from the sun is incredibly ''cold'', up to -200 degrees. ''Ice'' has been found in the shadows of craters on Mercury's surface. In fact, the only hot parts of Mercury are the parts directly in the path of the Sun's radiation. Anything in shadow is very cold: there's no atmosphere to hold in heat, and little to actually enable convection. How cold? There's ''ice'' in the nooks and crannies of the planet where the Sun doesn't shine. It's still not livable by any means, but it makes the planet far more interesting to astronomers.

** ''LuckyStarr and the Big Sun of Mercury''

The most popular theory (backed by strong evidence) is that Mercury had a collision with another body that stripped the planet of its crust and lighter elements, leaving behind the dense core.

Mercury is a planet of massive extremes: the side facing the sun is incredibly hot, but the side facing away from the sun is incredibly ''cold'', up to -200 degrees. ''Ice'' has been found in the shadows of craters on Mercury's surface. In fact, the only hot parts of Mercury are the parts directly in the path of the Sun's radiation. Anything in shadow is very cold: there's no atmosphere to hold in heat, and little to actually enable convection. It's still not livable by any means, but it makes the planet far more interesting to astronomers.

* ''Mission to Mercury'' by Hugh Walters has the heros end up trapped in Mercury's dark side and need to escape before they freeze to death in the near total-zero conditions.

* Kim Stanley Robinson has several stories take place on Mercury, including ''2312'', where civilization depends on a MercurialBase in the form of the city of Terminator, which survives the extreme temperature changes by travelling around the planet on a giant pair of tracks, keeping itself in the survivable zone through keeping just ahead of the Sun.
* On ''InvaderZim'' its been turned into a giant spaceship by the (who else?) Martians. Zim and Dib proceed to have a space battle using Mar (which has also been turned into a ship) and Mercury, respectively.

The smallest of the planets (smaller even than the moons [[UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfJupiter Ganymede]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfSaturn Titan]] in the outer solar system by volume, although not by mass.), and the closest to {{UsefulNotes/the Sun}}. The planet is mostly made of rock and metal, with a larger proportion of metal than the other inner planets, and as a result is the second densest of the large moons and planets. ({{UsefulNotes/Earth}} is more dense only because the large size compresses materials more.) A number of theories exist for the extra concentration of metal: The heat near [[UsefulNotes/TheSun the early sun]] may not have allowed as many silicates to condense, {{UsefulNotes/the Sun}} may have blown off the other rocks early on, or an impact may have blown off most of the outer rocks.

It was expected that the planet would be tidally locked to {{UsefulNotes/the Sun}}, with one side always facing {{UsefulNotes/the Sun}} and the other always facing away, but the planet actually rotates in a 2:3 ratio with its orbital time. The orbit itself is unusually eccentric, and the movement of this orbit was an unexplained mystery that was finally solved by general relativity.

It was expected that the planet would be tidally locked to {{UsefulNotes/the Sun}}, with one side always facing {{UsefulNotes/the Sun}} and the other always facing away, but the planet actually rotates in a 2:3 ration with its orbital time. The orbit itself is unusually eccentric, and the movement of this orbit was an unexplained mystery that was finally solved by general relativity.

The smallest of the planets (smaller even than the moons ganymede and titan in the outer solar system by volume, although not by mass.), and the closest to the sun. The planet is mostly made of rock and metal, with a larger proportion of metal than the other inner planets, and as a result is the second densest of the large moons and planets. (Earth is more dense only because the large size compresses materials more.) A number of theories exist for the extra concentration of metal: The heat near the early sun may not have allowed as many silicates to condense, the sun may have blown off the oter rocks early on, or an impact may have blown off most of the outer rocks.

The planet is geologically inactive today, mostly covered in craters, although a few remains of possible volcanoes and faults are found on the surface. Despite the inactivity, the planet has a magnetic field, although one much weaker the Earth's. Some activity may be due to the contraction of the planet over time.

It was expected that the planet would be tidally locked to the sun, with one side always facing the sun and the other always facing away, but the planet actually rotates in a 2:3 ration with its orbital time. The orbit itself is unusually eccentric, and the movement of this orbit was an unexplained mystery that was finally solved by general relativity.