The closest planet to the Sun, Mercury has been known to humans since time immemorial. Contact online >>
The closest planet to the Sun, Mercury has been known to humans since time immemorial.
The ancient Babylonians called it Napu, after a Babylonian god, but Mercury owes its modern name to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Because from Earth Mercury can appear as a morning or evening star, the ancient Greeks originally gave it two names, calling it Apollo when it was visible in the morning and Hermes when it was visible in the evening, both names referencing Greek gods.
Find out more about the planets of the Solar System and how to observe Mercury
But by about 350 BC they''d realised their error (these morning and evening objects were the same planet) and settled on the single name Hermes.
Hermes, in Greek mythology, was the messenger of the gods, so this must have seemed an appropriate moniker for what is by far the fastest planet in the sky, Mercury orbiting the Sun in a mere 88 days.
Hermes'' opposite number in Roman mythology was the god Mercurius, and so as the Greek civilisation slowly ceded influence to the Roman one, the planet became known as Mercurius.
In fact, the Romans named all of the five then-known planets after their deities – see also Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Like Hermes, Mercurius was the messenger of the gods but he was also the god of trade and commerce, which is why his name shares a root with the Latin words merx (goods or merchandise), mercari (to trade) and merces (wages).
Mercurius was later Anglicised to Mercury, giving the planet the name it has today –which in turn inspired the name given to mercury, the metallic element.
Mercury (the metal) was known to the ancient Greeks as ''hydrargyos'' ("water-silver"), which was Romanized to ''hydrargyrum'', from which name mercury''s chemical symbol Hg is derived.
For similar reasons – it''s a similar colour to silver, but flows around like water – metal mercury was originally known in English as ''quicksilver''.
During medieval times, however, alchemists associated each of the seven then-known metals (gold, silver, mercury, copper, iron, lead and tin) with one of the seven then-known planets.
Fast-orbiting Mercury, named after the speedy messenger of the gods, was a natural match for the fast-flowing metal, and so quicksilver became mercury.
Now let''s fast-forward a few centuries all the way to 2004, when NASA decided to send a second probe to Mercury (the first being Mariner 10, some 30 years earlier).
Casting around for a name for the mission, they came up with the catchy ''MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging'' – or MESSENGER, for short.
A neat little nod to the long history of a planet that has been fascinating Earth-dwellers for millennia!
Mercury is the innermost as well as the smallest planet in the solar system. Just like Venus, the planet is considered an inferior planet. Since Mercury is so close to the sun, viewing from the earth is only possible during early evening and morning on the horizon in the east or the west. So far, Mercury has been visited twice by two vessels namely Mariner 10 (1974 and 1975) and the MESSENGER (2004). The surface of the planet is not dissimilar to that of the Moon with features like heavy craters that show lengthy periods of geological inactivity. Despite being studied before by the two vessels, it the least understood planet although that will change as more data from the two vessels is processed.
The naming of planet Mercury goes as far back as the Roman Era. In that time, they only knew about seven objects in space namely the five brightest planets, the Moon, and the Sun. Since they were a superstitious group, they named these objects after their most important deities. They decided to name the planet after their god Mercury, who was the messenger deity as well as the idol of travelers. Aside from that, Mercury was believed to have winged sandals and a hat for flying. The reason for picking the name was that Mercury is the fastest planet to revolve around the sun.
As stated earlier, Mercury is one of the five planets that are visible through the unaided eye. For this reason, it is still unclear as to the exact date the planet was discovered. However, it is known that Thomas Harriot and Galileo Galilei were the first to observe it with a telescope back in the 17th century. In modern days, only the MESSENGER has made it into the planet''s orbit in 2011 until 2015.
Mercury is one of the most well-known planets in our solar system, and it''s also one of the most mysterious. But have you ever wondered how this planet got its name? In this article, we''ll explore the origins of the name "Mercury" and the stories behind it.
Mercury is named after the Roman god of commerce, travel, and thievery. The planet''s name is derived from the Latin word "mercurius," which means "messenger of the gods." Mercury was considered the messenger of the gods because he was swift and could move between the different realms of the gods.
Mercury was one of the major gods in the Roman pantheon, and he was often depicted wearing a winged hat and sandals, which helped him move quickly. He was also known as a trickster and a thief, which is why he was associated with commerce and thievery.
The planet Mercury was first observed by ancient civilizations, including the Greeks, Egyptians, and Babylonians. The Greeks called the planet "Stilbon," which means "gleaming" or "twinkling," while the Egyptians called it "The Star of Set," after their god of chaos and disorder.
Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system and the one closest to the Sun, is named after the Roman god Mercury. The name "Mercury" is derived from the Latin word "Mercurius," which is associated with the Roman god of commerce, travel, and communication.
In Roman mythology, Mercury is often identified with the Greek god Hermes. Hermes/Mercury was considered a messenger of the gods, known for his speed and agility. The choice of the name for the planet reflects its swift orbit around the Sun, completing one orbit in just about 88 Earth days.
The tradition of naming planets after mythological figures from Roman and Greek mythology was established in antiquity and has been continued by astronomers throughout history.
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