New answers. Why does Mercury have more craters than the other planets? This is because the Earth has a atmosphere that causes friction on the asteroids/meteorites, making most of them burn up before they reach th e Earths surface . You can detect craters formed in the last 10 or 20 years. KevinWagner. Like the Earth's Moon, Mercury has virtually no atmosphere, and no liquid water. Mercury's thin atmosphere . On Mercury, where there is no atmosphere, there is no weather to erode away the craters, so most of the craters are still visible. Mercury has no rings, no moons, and a relatively weak magnetic field. Question Date: 2012-10-24: Answer 1: This is an excellent question! They strike on surface with different speeds but the average speed is 12 miles per second or twenty kilometers per second. The further you travel from the sun, the weaker its gravitational pull on you becomes. Updated 198 days ago|10/13/2021 8:48:44 AM . (But Mercury is not the hottest planet in the solar system. This answer has been confirmed as correct and helpful. When they hit the surface, there's an impact. But we still see plenty of craters in dry places or places with less erosional activity. It has no atmosphere, and it doesn't have any moons. . A).. Mercury is far more volcanically active than the Earth. Data from MESSENGER have strongly supported the existence of water ice in permanently shadowed craters at Mercury's poles. c. The Sun has heated Mercury's surface to the boiling point of rock, and the resulting bubbles left craters. Mercury is the planet in our solar system that sits closest to the sun. The surface of Mercury looks much like Earth's moon. It is about the size of the continental United States, slightly bigger. Craters can also be found on planets, like Mars, Mercury, and even Earth! d. In addition to this major hit, the Earth has been struck by just as many meteorites as all the other moons and planets, and would be completely pockmarked with craters if it weren't for one thing: erosion. It has a mass of about 3.285 × 10^23 kg or about 5.5% that of Earth. Mercury is so small, scientists long assumed it had no atmosphere. The images below show regions roughly 1000 x 1000 km in size. Mercury takes 59 Earth days to make one . Wiki User. CURIOSITIES about the MOON; 36 Blue Sky Science: Why does the moon have craters? Rating. Atmospheres can destroy many incoming meteoroids before they reach the . How hot is Mercury? Weegy: Rayleigh wave is the type of seismic wave highlighted in the image. A picture from the lunar orbiter shows a top-down view in which you can see a nice circular ring, the rim of the crater. ? On its sunny side, Mercury can reach a scorching 800 degrees Fahrenheit! On its dark side, Mercury gets very cold because it has almost no atmosphere to hold in heat and keep the surface warm.The temperature can drop down to minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Although Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and can be extremely hot over most of its surface, ice may exist at the bottoms of some polar craters because the crater floors are permanently shadowed by the crater rims. Lesson; Quiz; Course; 9.9K views. It is important to know a word's connotation so you can use it properly compared to . Why do we see so few craters on the surface of Venus? The distance between Mercury and the sun ranges from 46 million kilometers to 69.8 million kilometers. . Second, in the early formative stages when possibly more large pieces were . The only close-up images we have of Mercury were taken by the Mariner 10 spacecraft on three close passes in 1974 and 1975. . a. Mercury is far more volcanically active than the Earth. Therefore, if Namouni is correct, the real Jupiter has 79 moons and counting because it's an insanely massive planet that's far enough away from the sun to avoid lunar theft. Primarily because earths' atmosphere disintegrates many meteorites before they reach the Earth. B.The Moon has shielded Earth from most of the potential . The Moon is in space, while Earth is not. What Is Mercury Like? 2008-2009: MESSENGER observes . … So, Mercury is unlikely to fall into the Sun. Uranus is tilted a lot - more than 90°. Why does the Moon have so many craters while Earth has so few? Mercury and the Moon are covered with impact craters; their surfaces are very old. Distance offsets this ability. Providing an exact number is increasingly difficult because the term crater can . There . NA. But Mariner 10 surprised experts by revealing a tenuous net of gas around the planet. The yellow areas, where the radar signal is reflected strongly, are thought to be sites where ice is trapped in frigid dark shadows. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. And so, all the craters that scientists do see on the surface . The same hemisphere of Mercury was sunlit on each of these passes, so nearly half the planet has never been imaged, and no determination can . Mars has many craters, and even Earth has its share. Moon history and formation, atmosphere; 38 Why does moon have so many craters? . That's a lot smaller than Jupiter's tilt, which comes in second . C.Mercury had more volcanic activity than . Who knows why Mercury and the Moon have so many more impact craters than our planet. The craters on the surface of the moon are impact craters. On its dark side, Mercury gets very cold because it has almost no atmosphere to hold in heat and keep the . …. One of the enduring enigmas of Mercury is why such a small planet, roughly 38 percent of Earth's diameter, is so dense. -is why do Mars and Mercury have many more craters compared to Venus. A planet's orbit is a geodesic through curved spacetime. Your weight on Mercury would be 38% of your weight on Earth. These craters are formed mainly because of the collision of asteroids, meteorites with the moon. One famous crater on the moon is called Tycho. Partially right. It has a lot of impact craters. In what way does a surface's number of craters reflect its age? Three processes help Earth keep its surface crater free. Added 198 days ago|10/13/2021 8:48:44 AM. 35 Why does the moon have CRATERS ? Why does Mercury have so many craters and the Earth so few? Mercury has almost no atmosphere. The higher gravity tends to keep material . By counting craters on different areas of Mercury's surface, a relative geologic history of the planet can be constructed, indicating which surfaces . On average the craters on Venus are far smaller than the likes of Mercury, Mars and of course our Moon but . Hence, most of them are still visible on their surfaces. The Earth has several very efficient erosion mechanisms which wipe away craters and other geological formations at a very rapid rate. Answer (1 of 2): When considering the Galilean moons of Jupiter and the relative crater impacts on their surfaces, Ganymede and Europa have ice covered surfaces; Ganymede with an ocean just below the surface, Europa likewise covered in an icy crust. How many craters does Mercury have? Why does Mercury have so many craters and the Earth so few? The crater is about 1,550 km (963 miles) in diameter, which would be enough to fit part of Europe from Portugal to Germany. A).. Mercury is far more volcanically active than the Earth. The Earth is too hard for impactors to dent the surface. Data from MESSENGER have strongly supported the existence of water ice in permanently shadowed craters at Mercury's poles. Mercury has almost no atmosphere. The Moon has no atmosphere, so there has been no erosion of the craters. Earth is tilted a bit - about 23°. Mercury's tilt is less than 1/30th of one degree! Only a few, such as Meteor Crater in Arizona, remain. no atmosphere means no weather. During an impact, buried material is ejected while outward pressure pushes the rock at the crater's edge upward, forming a rim. As for some of the other large impact craters on the planet, they include Baker (109km), Bonnevie (92.2km), Cleopatra (105km), Cochran (100km), Isabella (175km), Klenova (141km), Maria Celeste (97.5km), Meitner (149km) among a few others. Copy. Earth is in a region that hasn't had as many potential impactors to hit it. These craters are formed when an asteroid or comet hit the moon's surface over the moon's 4.5 billion years history. Mercury has a radius of 2.439 km or 1516 mi, and a diameter of 4.879 km or 3.032 mi. From Mariner 10's 1974-5 flybys of the innermost world and now the . 763 craters Why does the moon have so many craters? Water, wind, ice, etc- they all work to reform the landscape, erasing evidence of impacts. Question. A solar day on the surface of Mercury lasts 176 Earth days. It takes sunlight 3.2 minutes to travel from the Sun to Mercury. Advertisement. What Does Mercury Look Like From Space? a. Mercury is far more volcanically active that the Earth b. Mercury is much more massive than the Earth and therefore attracts more impacting bodies c. The Sun has heated Mercury's surface to the boiling point of rock, and the resulting bubbles left craters d. The team concluded that this part of Mercury's surface has an age of roughly 4.0 - 4.1 billion years. Earth has weather, water, and plants. The first is called erosion. C).. This means that a single day on Mercury last about 0.646 times as long as a single year. [a] This is a list of named craters on Mercury, the innermost planet of the Solar System (for other features, see list of geological features on Mercury). Mercury does not have any moons or rings. What is a crater. A) They were probably carved in Mercury's early history by running water. The far side has more visible craters. Why are the craters on Mercury generally larger than lunar craters A.There is more surface gravity on Mercury, compared to the Moon. One reason the moon has craters because it gets hit by objects, small pieces of rocks that come from outer space. C).. Does Mercury have a dark side? New . Therefore, older surfaces have more impact craters. 33 How are craters formed? Why does the moon have so many craters? Mercury takes 59 Earth days to make one . These scientists further propose that there are roughly 1 million craters bigger than 1km across and more than half a billion that surpass 16km. Mercury has so many craters on its surface for a couple of reasons: Mercury, like our Moon, has no atmosphere that would protect it from impacts. ∙ 2011-03-15 20:58:43. Mercurian: 414 craters (7.9%) Venerian: 900 craters (17.2%) Distribution of named craters in the Solar System as of 2017. This is complicated. The Sun has heated Mercury's surface to the boiling point of rock and the resulting bubbles left craters D).. Why does Mercury have so many craters and the Earth so few? Mercury has little chance to have a moon mainly because of its small gravity and orbit. User: Where is the youngest crust on earth most likely located Weegy: The youngest crust on Earth is most likely located at the mid-ocean ridge. Also there are craters everywhere on Earth, but the environment hides them from plain view. 1991: Scientists using Earth-based radar find signs of ice locked in permanently shadowed areas of craters in Mercury's polar regions. Astronomers estimate the object that caused it was at least 100 km (62 miles) long. You might wonder why the moon has so many more . so Earth also has few craters. The . B).. Mercury is much more massive than the Earth and therefore attracted more impacting bodies. Asked 12/9/2019 9:45:36 PM. Along with Venus, Earth, and Mars, Mercury is one of the rocky planets. because it doesn't have a thick atmosphere so meteor's don't burn up and . Mercury, on the other hand, is hardly tilted at all. The moon does not have that defense and so everything that is on a trajectory to hit it does so. There are many craters on the moon which are formed when something smashes on the surface and causes a dent. The Moon lacks water . The surface of Mercury looks much like Earth's moon. Many of the craters on Mercury and the Moon were formed during that time. Mercury has so many craters on its surface for a couple of reasons: Mercury, like our Moon, has no atmosphere that would protect it from impacts. -is why do Mars and Mercury have many more craters compared to Venus. Since spacecraft have visited Mercury, humans have not entered orbit around the planet, let alone explored its surface. Impact craters form when meteorites crash into the surface of . Why does Mercury have so many craters and the Earth so few? It is believed by scientists that the old craters of Venus were covered and filled by massive volcanic events that happened on Venus and erased all the existing craters by filling them with lava. The Moon does not. Although lunarlike in general appearance, Mercurian craters show interesting differences when studied in detail. Planets have the colors that they have because of what they are made of and how their surfaces or atmospheres reflect and absorb sunlight. Mercury is the smallest planet. On the giant gas planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, we do not see any craters because there is no visible solid surface for the meteors to hit. See answer (1) Best Answer. Mercury's Poles. Right, so the craters come from asteroid or comet hitting the surface of . . a. Mercury is far more volcanically active than the Earth. The official NASA press release announced that there are around 5,185 craters on the moon that are at least 20km in size. advanced-physics. Further due to wind, rain, water, and other forms of erosion craters wear away relatively quickly. So, planets like Mars, Mercury where there is no atmosphere, there is no weather to erode away the craters. Because it is so close to the sun, it can be very hot. group btn .search submit, .navbar default .navbar nav .current menu item after, .widget .widget title after, .comment form .form submit input type submit .calendar . User: The photograph shows hexagonal basalt columns on a mountain that . The planet didn't get as many meteorite impacts as neighboring planets did. Mercury likes to keep things simple. Almost exactly like Earth's moon, Mercury looks like Earth's planet. The density of craters on the surface of a planet can be used to indicate the relative age of different places on the surface; the more craters the surface has accumulated, the older the surface. The earth sits at a comfy 150 million . Mercury likes to keep things simple. It has a solid surface that is covered with craters like our Moon. C) They probably formed when a series of large impacts hit Mercury one after the other. 42) Why do we think Mercury has so many tremendous cliffs? What color is Mercury? Log in for more information. Find an answer to your question Explain why Earth does not have as many craters as Mars, Mercury, and the Moon. B)..Mercury is much more massive than the Earth and therefore attracted more impacting bodies. These act together to break apart and wear down the ground. A year on Mercury takes 88 Earth days. On Earth, impact craters are harder to recognize because of weathering and erosion of its surface. Question 5 of 25 1.0/ 1.0 Points Why does Earth not have as many impact craters on its surface as other planetary bodies like the Moon or Mars? Along with Venus, Earth, and Mars, Mercury is one of the rocky planets. Although Mars may have had a watery past, the craters we see there today . Newer research suggests that heat from Earth at the time when the Moon was formed is the reason the near side has fewer impact craters. Mercury spins slowly compared to Earth, so one day lasts a long time. Why Does Space Debris Hit the Moon? Facts about Mercury. Recent data show that water ice may exist in the bottoms of craters at Mercury's poles. B) They were probably formed by tectonic stresses when the entire planet shrank as its core cooled. B. On other planets, such as Mercury and the surface of Mars, craters are quite obvious, and they haven't been eroded away. User: The photograph shows hexagonal basalt columns on a mountain that . C. Impacts on the surface of Earth are eroded, buried or . It's mainly erosion, and many smaller things are lost due to disintegration in the atmosphere. Another piece of the puzzle is the stability of lunar orbits over the lifetime of the solar system. Earth Science Earth, Moon, and Sun Earth's Moon. The planet didn't get as many meteorite impacts as neighboring planets did. The Planetary Deep Past. Mercury is a scarred world covered in craters, ridges, and bright debris from numerous impacts. craters which result from impacts from meteorites as are those on our Moon. 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