Mercury is cryed efter the Roman god Mercurius that haed tred an troke as his parteeclar haunling. But he wis equate wi the Greek god Hermes - the messenger o the ither gods – an sae a swith traiveller. Mercury is the planet that bides nearest til oor Sun and taks jist shy o 88 Yird days tae wheech roond, makkin it the fastest planet in oor Sun Gird. This is whit wey it is cryed efter the Roman god.

This warld, kenspeckle forby as the smaest o the planets, wis makkit some 4.6 billion year syne an took mony an sindry sair dunts fae rocks an ither bodies fleein aboot, leain it wi mony craters. In a puckle craters, that daesna get the Sun, the’r watter ice weel hidden, while in ither pairts the Sun burns. It wis volcanic in thae days an the muckle Caloris crater wis makkit fae magma wi materials splairged ootwards ilka airt leain it wi smooth regions that pits us in mind o oor Moon. In fact, Caloris - at 840 mile abreed - is ane o the lairgest laichs in oor hail Sun Gird that wis made fae the dunt o anither body. The hail surface o this warld is scaured wi kenspeckles that astrologues haes cryed rupes. The’r ane in parteeclar that’s cryed Discovery an it runs for 400 mile wi cleuchs that draps doun 1.2 mile in places.

Nooadays Mercury is a deid warld wi nae atmosphere, but it daes hae a magnetic field. The gravity is jist ower a third o the Yird’s sae like oor Moon humans wad stot aboot. An Mercury haes an affa lang day acause it turns roond on its aixis jist aince ilka 56.8 Yird days.  We micht jalouse that as Mercury bides by the Sun it wad be hot ayont aw tholin, but, in actual fact, its temperature gaes back an forrit atween hot an cauld. Throu the day it can get tae 801 Fahrenheit (427 Celsius) – eneuch tae melt leed – but at nicht, wi nae atmosphere tae haud the heat in an the planet birlin affa slaw like – it can get gey cauld on the daurk side.