Although there are nine planets in our solar system, only one planet has the distinction of being the closest planet to the sun. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. In roman mythology, Mercury is the god of travel and thievery, the Roman counterpart of the Greek god Hermes, messenger of the Gods. The planet probably received this name because it moves so quickly across the sky.
Johann Hieronymus Schroeter was the first to observe the planet Mercury and record detailed drawings of Mercury's surface features. Schroeter lived from 1745 to 1816. Unfortunately, his sketches were not very accurate (Vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/she/mercury.html). An astronomer by the name of Eugenios Antoniadi (1870-1944) charted the surface of Mercury in great detail. His maps were used for almost 50 years. He used one of the stronger telescopes of his time and found the canals to be optical illusions (Vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/she/mercury.html).
Mercury is so close to the sun that you can only see it near sunrise or sunset. Mercury is approximately 57.9 million km from the sun. It is just over a third as far from the sun as the Earth is. If you were on the surface of Mercury, the Sun would look a
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