Facts About The Inner Planets FACTS ABOUT MERCURY Mercury has been known to humanity since ancient times and although its discovery date is unknown, the first mentions of the planet are believed to be around 3000 BC by the Sumerians. A year in Mercury is 88 days, yet a Mercury day is 176 Earth days. Mercury is nearly tidally locked to the Sun – also known as a gravitational lock – and over time this has slowed the rotation of the planet to almost match its orbit around the Sun. Mercury orbits so quickly around the Sun that early civilizations believed it was actually two different stars – one which appeared in the morning and another which appeared in the evening. Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system with a diameter of 4,879 km and is one of five planets that is visible to the naked eye. FACTS ABOUT VENUS Venus is the second brightest natural object in the sky. The planet has an apparent magnitude of -3.8 to -4.6, which make...
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