How was Mercury (planet) formed?
“Mercury’s history of formation is similar to that of Earth’s. About 4.5 billion years ago the planets formed. This was a time of intense bombardment for the planets as they scooped up matter and debris left around from the nebula that formed them. Early during this formation, Mercury probably differentiated into a dense metallic core, and a silicate crust. After the intense bombardment period, lava flowed across the surface and covered the older crust. By this time much of the debris had been swept up and Mercury entered a lighter bombardment period. During this period the intercrater plains formed. Then Mercury cooled. Its core contracted which in turn broke the crust and produced the prominent lobate scarps. During the third stage, lava flooded the lowlands and produced the smooth plains. During the fourth stage micrometeorite bombardment created a dusty surface also known as regolith. A few larger meteorites impacted the surface and left bright rayed craters.
according to many scientists, our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago. A nebula (cloud of gas) condensed into early forms of the planets. As each planet increased in its gravitational force the remaining dust and matter finished forming the planetary bodies. This was followed by a period of intense bombardment by foreign objects such as asteroids, meteors and comets. Mercury’s formation involved several steps. 1. The section of nebula that formed Mercury formed a dense metallic core with a thin silicate crust on the surface. 2. As asteroids bombarded the surface, internal lava flowed out and formed a new crust. 3. Over time, Mercury’s core cooled down and shrunk. As a result, the outer crust cracked. 4. Another wave of lava ensues, covering the older crust. 5. Additional bombardments of smaller meteorites formed a dusty surface known as the regolith. On occasion, large asteroids would strike Mercury creating bright rayed craters.
Mercury is one of the four terrestrial planets that is a rocky body like the Earth. It is the smallest of the four, with a diameter of 4879 km at its equator. Mercury is even smaller—albeit more massive—than the largest natural satellites in the solar system, Ganymede and Titan. Mercury consists of approximately 70% metallic and 30% silicate material. The density of the planet is the second highest in the solar system at 5.43 g/cm³ (water is 1.00 g/cm³), only slightly less than Earth’s density. If the effect of gravitational compression were to be factored out, the materials of which Mercury is made would be denser, with an uncompressed density of 5.3 g/cm³ versus Earth’s 4.4 g/cm³.[7] 1. Crust – 100–200 km thick 2. Mantle – 600 km thick 3. Core – 1,800 km radius 1. Crust – 100–200 km thick 2. Mantle – 600 km thick 3. Core – 1,800 km radius Mercury’s density can be used to infer details of its inner structure. While the Earth’s high density results appreciably from gravitational compre
