User:Mmedhani/sandbox

Mercury

Mercury is the first and innermost of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is the second hottest and has had only one major spacecraft orbiting it (Messenger Spacecraft.) The reason why it is so small is because the Sun sucked up most of the surrounding gas and debris in the early formation of the Solar System. In 2013, a spacecraft named Messenger started orbiting Mercury, and confirmed that it was shrinking in size, due to it's core cooling. This was because Mercury's core took up 85% of the planet's mass, and as it shrunk, the mantle and crust also began to shrink, forming jagged ridges and cliffs on Mercury's surface. Additionally, Mercuryquakes (which are earthquakes on Mercury) have been known to shake the rocks on Mercury, which are usual, except they help open up the cracks ever further, so we can basically kind of see some lava.

Size Mercury is the smallest planet, and is only a little larger than our moon.