Plate II
Mercury
The closest planet to the Sun and the smallest of the eight. With no atmosphere to moderate its temperature, its surface swings from 430 °C by day to −180 °C by night. It spins so slowly that a single Mercurian day lasts almost two of its years.
| Diameter | 4,879 km |
| Average distance from Sun | 57.9 million km |
| Local year | 88 Earth days |
| Moons | 0 |