It is already of our knowledge, since the second year of elementary school, that Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. The inhospitable world orbits to only 0.387 astronomical (UAS) units, equivalent to 58 million kilometers. Nevertheless, it is not the hottest planet in the solar system. Bed down why.
By scientific convention, it is the average distance between the earth and the sun. Then we can say, for the purpose of comparing with the first planet, that the Earth is the 1st of our star, and Neptune, to 30 UAS of the Sun.
For Maria Vincent, astronomer of the University of Hawaii, “one might think that Mercury is very hot all the time because it is very close to the sun,” said Live Science. “Instead, Mercury side facing the sun is ultrachenting, and the night side is very cold . This is because Mercury has no atmosphere to regulate the temperature, ”he explains.
How is the temperature in mercury?

In addition to being weird, Mercury is the planet with the most extreme temperatures of the solar system. Thermal variations on its surface range from -184 ° C (which is twice as cold than anywhere on Earth) and impressive 427º C.
A trademark of the planet, its craters spread through its surface. Some of them, located near the poles, They are so deep that their abyss has never received direct sunlight remaining in the dark 4 billion years ago.
In addition to the absence of atmosphere, which could spread and soften heat, as occurs on Earth, the mercurian hot days are exceptionally long.
Since each day in Mercury lasts 176 terrestrial days, as the planet rotates very slowly, some regions may have the sun in the sky for several weeks.
The orbit around the sun is rapid, only 1.5 days mercurian, or 88 terrestrial days. “Extreme climatic conditions do not allow the planet to have liquid water which is the basis of habitability as we know it, ”says Vincent.
With an extremely thin atmosphere, Mercury has no atmospheric wind. The only wind there, the solar, does not blow: it is just a flow of electrons and protons that interacts with the surface of the planet.
Who is, after all, the hottest planet in the solar system?

Although humans have beaten temperature records on Earth, year by year, due to global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, Earth is not the hottest planet in the solar system.
Even farther from the sun than mercury, the hottest planet title goes to Venus, and this is because the dense atmosphere there acts like a greenhouse, imprisoning the heat and raising the surface temperature to up to 482 ° C.
However, the average distance between Venus and the Sun is 0.72 UIs, but, due to the fact that the planet’s orbit is elliptical in relation to the star, this number ranges from about 0.718 in the perihelion (closest point of the sun) and approximately 0.728 UAS in the alil.
To understand why the venus temperature is so hot, we can use a comparison between the atmospheres of the two planets. Here, the carbon dioxide (CO2) present in the exosphere absorbs part of the heat that would otherwise escape back to space.
Already in Venus, who is much closer to the sun than the earth, And it’s two thousand times more CO2 in the atmosphere than here the result could not be different than this warmer temperature than a pizza oven.
Launched in October 2018, the Becolombo Mission, a partnership between the European (ESA) and Japanese (JAXA) agencies is scheduled to enter orbit around Mercury in December 2025.
In addition to providing a closer view of the less explored planet of the solar system, the mission will provide detailed information about mercury temperature, especially in areas so far difficult to study.
See also: NASA announces missions to explore Venus by 2030
This content was originally published in the sun, Mercury is not warmer planet; Understand on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil

Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.