Named after Roman God of Thievery, Commerce and Travel.
Shows at both morning & evening rising & settings. Used to be thought it was 2 different objects.

Heavily cratered, littered with boulders and pulverised dust. No atmosphere which means there is no day-to-night variations in solar heating and has wild temperature swings. Temperature can range from -183.15 degrees Celsius to 426.85 degrees Celsius. Geologically dead.
1974 Mariner 10 came in 10,000km from the surface. 2008, Messenger created high resolution images of the planet. No clouds, rivers, dust storms or any type of weather. Similar to the moon.
Magnetic field is 1/100th of Earth's. Strong enough to deflect any solar wind. Thought to be a "fossil remnant" dating back to when the core solidified.
Now known to be generated inside the core. Suggested to be more dynamic. How can such a strong field be made my a slow rotating planet?
Magnetic field + average density = differentiated. Inside made of large, heavy, iron-rich core with radius of 1,800km. Less-dense lunar-like mantle above core, depth = 500-600km. 40% volume (60% mass) contained inside iron core.
Ratio of core volume to total planet volume is greater than any other object in the Solar System.

Mid-19th century, Giovanni Schiaparelli discerned surface features of Mercury. He used these features to calculate the rotation rate by focusing on one region while the planet spun. Mercury has only one side facing the Sun, like the Moon and Earth. The gravitational pull of the Sun on Mercury modified its rotation rate to only have the strongest pull in the magnetic field only pointing directly at the Sun.
The theory that Mercury rotates synchronously with its revolution around the Sun (every 88 Earth days), was kept around for half a century. 1965, Astronomers concluded that this theory was wrong. They sent radio signals from Puerto Rico to Mercury and waited for the echoes. The pulses were weaker, but because of the size of the dish, it caught the waves to calculate Mercury's rotation rate.
Rotation rate=59 days, 2/3 of the planet's orbital period. This means the planet has rotated 3 times after completing 2 orbits.

A Room with a View-100%=10 points=O=Outstanding
Pretend I'm standing on top of the Astronomy Tower, viewing Mercury. Describe what I see. Time and weather conditions on Earth, state I am using a telescope. Telescopes are magical, so I can see Mercury in detail.
PICTURE!!

10% Spelling/Grammar
15% Word Requirements (150 Words, over not under)
5% Identifying Marks
70% Bulk of Essay (Describe Mercury, what's the weather? What's the time)
Plagiarism=Automatic fail
No due date

Quiz on... Mercury!-100%=10 points=O=Outstanding
True/False. Self-grading. No due date.