Mercury’s brave
close to the sun
lost in its glare
how quickly it runs
Catch a brief glimpse
near sunset or sunrise
bright twinkly planet
low in the skies
As the sun formed
threw gas & dust clear
Mercury’s heavy metal
An Iron ore core, pitch clear!
Smallest planet by far –
(Tad more than our moon)
dense solid & strong –
(Earth’s densest of all)
‘Lobate scarps wrinkles’;
why, does it need cream?
No, iron cools & contracts
Cliffs miles long & a mile high!
Full solid iron middle
possibly not after all.
Scientists now think Sulphur
gives it a molten core
Although next to the sun
Mercury’s not top of hot
Venus next door,
is top of that spot.
No atmosphere, low surface gravity
one face scorches at 427°C
the other shivers at -173°C
no temp. regulator you see
(Almost) tidal locked to the sun –
slows its orbit right down
A day trip to Mercury is
58 earth days long!
Revolves round the sun
it runs so fast
start to finish
in 88 days flat.
Mercury or Hermes,
do you follow
Roman or Greek? –
Message to the gods
Run, gotta be quick.
– Kam and Mum 2015 ©
A Note to You and Me
Thank you for reading about Mercury. We hope you enjoyed it. If you like it please let us know, comments welcome – brings a smile to us. x.
We find out about the visible planets because Kam likes to look for planets in the sky. Of course, one question leads to another and another ……
We’ve written about tidal locking in this post: Why do we See One Side of the Moon?
KamTime 
Hi everyone, it’s my first go to see at this web site, and piece of writing is really fruitful for me, keep up posting such articles.
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Thank you, I am pleased you’ve found it interesting.
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What a clever poem. Thank you for following my posts. I will do the same and return here again. Kindest Regards Cheryle
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You’re welcome & too kind! It’s a fun way to help us remember, I guess. x
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