The planet Mercury is very difficult to study from the Earth because of its proximity to the Sun' It

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Introduction
The planet Mercury is very difficult to study
from the Earth because of its proximity to the
Sun. It is the second smallest planet (it was
believed to be the smallest until the discovery
that Pluto is actually much smaller than
originally thought), and also the fastest in its
orbit since it is the innermost planet.
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Mercury Orbit
Earth
Mercury, the innermost planet, is 35,983,095
miles from the Sun on the average. It revolves
about the Sun once every 88 days in an orbit that
is the most elliptical of any planet except Pluto.
Venus
Sun
Mercury
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Because of its close proximity to the Sun,
Newtonian gravity doesnt quite work and general
relativity is needed to explain some of the
aspects of Mercurys orbit. In fact, this was one
of the first tests of general relativity. It was
previously thought that the deviations of the
motion of Mercury could be solved by assuming
planet (named Vulcan) or possibly a second
asteroid belt inside Mercury's orbit.
Sun
Mercury
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A closer look at Mercury
Mariner 10 oblique view of Wren crater and
surroundings on Mercury. Wren crater is barely
visible at the lower center of the image,
containing a number of craters within its 215 km
diameter floor.
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Mariner 10
Mariner 10 flew over Mercury at an altitude of
756 km on in March 1974. It took many photographs
of the surface of Mercury. Its photographs cover
nearly half (the other half is unexplored) the
surface area of the planet Mercury.
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Mercury Statistics
Diameter 3,030 Miles Distance from
Sun 35,983,095 miles Revolution Period
about the Sun 88 Days Rotation Period about
Axis 58.85 Earth Days Number of Moons None
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Information on Mercury
Mercury A planet of extremes Mercury is a lump
of rock, barely larger than the Moon, living
under the fierce heat of the burning Sun. It
experiences extremes in temperature from over
400C at noon to less than -150C at night.
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Information on Mercury
On the surface Mercury is very similar to our
Moon, a battered world, scarred by aeons of
impacts by meteorites. The surface is also
wrinkled, with great ridges hundreds of
kilometers long called scarps, which probably
appeared when Mercury cooled and shrunk soon
after it formed.
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The inside of Mercury is more like the Earth. It
has a core made of iron, and the centre may be
molten, kept hot by radiation deep within the
core.
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Roman God
Mercury originated as the Roman god of commerce
and was prayed to mainly by merchants. His name
comes from the Latin word "mercari" meaning to
deal or trade. Later he came to be associated
with the Greek God Hermes, adding responsibility
for messages to his duties.
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Artists rendition of Mercury
From Mercury, the Sun appears two and a half
times larger than it does on Earth. The sky would
appear black because there's little atmospheric
scattering of light. One would be able to see two
bright "stars," possibly discernible as
cream-colored Venus and blue-colored Earth.
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MESSENGER, launched Aug. 3, 2004, is only the
second U.S. spacecraft sent to the planet, and it
will be the first to establish an orbit.
Messenger will enter Mercury orbit on 30th
September 2009, and complete its mission one year
later.