Atmosphere
What are two reasons Mercury lost most of its atmosphere?
Mercury has almost no atmosphere. The planet's small size means that its gravity is too weak to hold down a normal atmosphere and There is a very thin atmosphere around the planet.
Compare how close Mercury & the Earth are to the Sun.
At an average distance of only 57.9 million km, Mercury orbits closer to the Sun than any other planet. Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.6 million km. So you can see that Mercury is much closer, taking only 88 days to complete an orbit around the Sun. So, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
Compare how much mass Mercury & the Earth have.
Mercury and Earth are both inner planets. They both orbit around the sun, however they have different time periods. Mercury and Earth are rocky planets, and consist of land and rock. Earth's orbital period is 365 days, and takes twenty-four hours to turn a complete day and night.
How does not having an atmosphere affect the temperature on Mercury?
Instead of an atmosphere, Mercury possesses a thin exosphere made up of atoms blasted off the surface by the solar wind and striking meteoroids.
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