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Mercury, a grey, heavily cratered surface
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.

Diameter4,879 km
Average distance from Sun57.9 million km
Local year88 Earth days
Moons0