How far is mercury from the sun?
Mercury is about 0.38 AU (astronomical units) from the sun. That’s about 393,000,000 km, about 152 times closer to the sun than the earth. The solar system is about 8.5-9.5 billion kilometers from the centre of the sun, so this means the distance between the earth and the sun is about 0.023 AU. Mercury’s distance from the sun is about 43% that of the earth.
How long is it Mercury from the sun?
Mercury takes about 88 days to orbit the sun. That means it takes about 224 days for the planet to complete one circuit around the sun, an average of about 46 days longer than Earth does. A quick way to figure out how long it takes for the sun to return to a given location is to use the calculator provided by NASA here.
How far is Mercury from the sun at a transit?
On average, Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun about 13 times a century. When a transit occurs, the planet is visible passing between the Sun and the Earth. This occurs with a transit probability of about 0.84% — so on average, one transit will occur every 144 years.
How far is mercury from the sun during a transit?
Mercury is about 0.38 AU (astronomical units) from the Sun at its closest. This means that if you could travel on a perfect direct line toward the Sun at this distance, you would take approximately 238 days to get there (or about 43 years).
How far is Mercury from the sun in a transit?
Mercury’s transit occurs when Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun on its way around the Sun. This is one of the rarest and most dramatic events in the solar system, and may only occur once every 58 years. This transit is visible from certain locations on the surface of the Earth, and for the most part, transit observations can only be made from the northern hemisphere.
