Talk:Mercury (planet)

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Mercury's magnetic field

Hello, this is SpaceChimp1992. I'm one of the new users here at Wikipedia, and I created an article that I invested a lot of time into: Terraforming of Europa (moon). I am asking for your consent if it is O.K. if I create an article about Mercury's magnetic field. I'm also sure that it will be different than just re-stating what's already on Mercury (planet)#Magnetic field and magnetosphere, I will inform the reader about Mercury's magnetic field strength, magnetic field detection and magnetic poles, the discovery of this magnetic field, etc. Would that be okay? Cheers! --SpaceChimp1992 1:13, 15 July 2011 (UTC)

"Orbit and rotation" section is useless in understanding why the orbit is so eccentric, comparing to others

Seriously, this article is as old as ancient, and yet it only blatantly states that the orbit of Mercury is the most eccentric without explaining possible reasons for that, as well as history of the planet, and its evolution, including the orbit. I can not believe that astronomy fans have nothing to write about this after all those years. 95.27.145.252 (talk) 09:37, 27 October 2012 (UTC)

Hi, I just want to add here, that I wanted to post a link to a video showing the "two sunrises" on certain spots on Mercury, but the article is semi protected, so I can't do that by myself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cDmus2hWKY --Spacenow (talk) 14:47, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

Why do people think that there has to be a reason for the eccentricity of Mercury's orbit? Planets are formed by accretion, as smaller bodies collide and join together. The accidental characteristics of the collisions affect the planet's orbital eccentricity. A small planet is more likely to end up with a large eccentricity than a large one, but basically it's just chance. Venus, which is also small and is adjacent to Mercury, has the smallest orbital eccentricity of all the planets in the solar system. DOwenWilliams (talk) 21:48, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

The article already states that "Simulations indicate that the orbital eccentricity of Mercury varies chaotically from nearly zero (circular) to more than 0.45 over millions of years due to perturbations from the other planets". --Roentgenium111 (talk) 18:10, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Temperature extremes

I think the cited temperature range needs a citation, agreed? --maye (talk) 18:09, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

There is already a citation given, in the infobox. --Roentgenium111 (talk) 12:41, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

What does "day" mean?

"Four days after perihelion, the Sun's normal apparent motion resumes." Whenever the word "day" is used, it should always say either "Mercury day" or "Earth day". I think that that example was Earth day, but this ambiguity of "day" should be explained. 77.103.49.239 (talk) 09:29, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

The word "day" appears twice in that short paragraph. The first one was preceded by "Earth". The second, wasn't, but the implication should have been obvious. However, to hammer home the point, I've put "Earth" before the second one too. DOwenWilliams (talk) 14:15, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 8 June 2013

in the following entry relating to ancient Greek nomenclature for Mercury there are some objectional assertions: The ancient Greeks of Hesiod's time knew the planet as Στίλβων (Stilbon), meaning "the gleaming", and Ἑρμάων (Hermaon).[97] Later Greeks called the planet Apollo when it was visible in the morning sky, and Hermes when visible in the evening. Around the 4th century BC, Greek astronomers came to understand that the two names referred to the same body, Hermes (Ἑρμής: Hermēs), a planetary name that is retained in modern Greek (Ερμής: Ermis).[98] The Romans named the planet after the swift-footed Roman messenger god, Mercury (Latin Mercurius), which they equated with the Greek Hermes, because it moves across the sky faster than any other planet.[99][100]

1) While I think it is true that Stilbon was indeed one name applied to Mercury in Hesiod's time, the only extant uses of that word in Homeric poetry apply to the legendary humans Alexander (Paris) in the Iliad and to Odysseus himself in the Odyssey. So there is not any proof for this assertion prior to the time of Aristotle.Checked this out afresh in TLG 2) The word Hermaon is a misspelling of the Greek Hermaion, and refers not to Hermes himself, but to a "windfall" or "following wind" which the god was thought to provide. 3) The assertion that morning star Mercury was called Apollo and evening star Mercury was called Hermes is likely true, and I wish I could demonstrate it, but cannot. 4) The Greeks, not merely their astronomers, knew that Phosporos and Hesper were the same body and they knew it long before the 4th century. A 4th century pseudo platonic work, Epinomis was the first document WE HAVE to state this, but there is much Greek thought we do not have. 5) Source 98 is valuless. 6) The last sentence has it garbled. Mercury in Roman thought was the quickly plying planet they knew so well. It was equated with Hermes because he, too, was the quickly plying god.

Zinganthropus (talk) 01:14, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

User is now autoconfirmed. No need for the edit request, as the user can now make the changes themselves. Mlpearc (powwow) 18:56, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 8 June 2013

The sections called OBSERVATION, NAKED EYE OBSERVATION, and OBSERVATION HISTORY,would profit from collapsing and re-heading

The call for citations needed around note 90 are wrong. One of these assertions is by definition of what inferior and superior conjunction mean. The other assertions are provable by anyone who knows how to use a computerized planetarium program. Zinganthropus (talk) 01:22, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

User is now autoconfirmed. No need for the edit request, as the user can now make the changes themselves. Mlpearc (powwow) 18:55, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Supposed highest eccentricity

The remark about Mercury's having the highest orbital eccentricity at 0.205 may be true of the major planets. Minor planets like Pallas have higher ones. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.27.109.117 (talk) 11:15, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

That of the orbit of Icarus is 0.82.