Duuuuude!
I’m number 1!
What are you number one at?
I’m the number one planet, duuuude!
I’m the FASTEST planet in the Solar System,
and the CLOSEST to the SUN,
and the SMALLEST.
Oh!
I’m the number one frog.
Awesome.
We’re both number 1.
Well, actually, I live on Earth.
That’s planet number 3 from the Sun.
That’s cool, little dude.
Nothing wrong with the bronze medal.
My name’s Leonard.
What’s your name?
My name is MERCURY.
I’m kind of a big deal.
Isn’t that the name of a car?
Nahh, little dude, I’m named for the ancient Roman god of trade and profit!
So you’re not named for something really important?
Venus is named for the goddess of LOVE, and Mars is named for the God of WAR.
Well, the Greek version of Mercury was Hermes, the speedy messenger of the gods.
So you’re named after someone who ran errands for the gods.
Okay….
Hey, little dude, Mercury had a totally important job.
The gods couldn’t get anything done without Mercury being SUPER FAST.
Yeah, that’s fair.
So I guess you’re pretty fast?
I’m SO fast, Leonard interrupts: how fast are you?
I’m SO fast, one year on Mercury is only 88 Earth days!
WOW!
So if I moved to Mercury I’d get 4 TIMES as many birthday presents!
Yeah, that’s pretty sweet.
So how long is each day on Mercury?
Like an hour?
Well, little dude, it’s kinda weird.
1 day on Mercury is about 59 Earth days.
WHAT?!
I don’t get it.
How can a year be much shorter on Mercury, but a day is much longer?
A DAY is how long it takes a planet to spin all the way around on its axis.
Yeah, 24 hours.
Not so fast, little dude.
A day is about 24 hours ON EARTH.
It takes way longer for Mercury to spin once on ITS axis.
A little more than 1400 hours, or about 59 of your Earth days.
But you said a year on Mercury is 88 days.
You have less than 2 days in a year?
I thought there were 365 days in a year!
That’s ON EARTH.
A YEAR is how long it takes a planet to go around the Sun.
It takes 365 Earth days for the Earth to go around the Sun.
Didn’t I just say that?
...But it only takes 88 Earth days for MERCURY to go around the Sun.
And in that time, there are fewer than 2 Mercury days.
Ohhhhhhhh I get it.
So you’re spinning around your own axis verrrrrry slowly, but you’re going around
the Sun very fast.
Now you’re getting it, little dude.
I’m still a little confused about when it’s day and when it’s night on Mercury.
When’s your bedtime?
I don’t have a bedtime.
I’m a planet.
Oh, yeah.
I forgot.
Well, what if *I* lived on Mercury.
What time would I have to go to bed?
Uhhh, when you get sleepy?
But on Earth, we go to bed when it gets dark, and we wake up when it’s light out.
Huhhhuhhh, I don’t think you want to do that on Mercury.
WHY NOT!??
Here, watch this picture, little dude.
See how Mercury, I mean I, am spinning around really slowly?
It takes around 1400 hours, or about 59 Earth days for Mercury, I mean me, to spin around
on my axis..
Does that mean your daytime and nighttime is one half of 1400 hours?
Let's see..1400 divided by 2 is 700.
700 HOURS of SUNSHINE?!
And then 700 HOURS of DARKNESS?!!
That’s the deal, little dude.
So you probably wouldn’t go to sleep when it’s dark and wake up when it’s light.
That would be silly That’s so weird.
Mercury’s pretty special.
You should totally visit!
We could hang out.
But isn’t it really hot on Mercury?
Because you’re so close to the Sun?
Yeah, it’s hot when the Sun’s out - it can get over 400 degrees Celsius.
But then it gets really cold when the Sun sets - down to minus 180 Celsius!
That’s because there isn’t much atmosphere to hold on to the heat.
Wait. No atmosphere means no air.
So how am I going to breathe on Mercury?
You’d have to bring your own air, little dude.
Well, what about a nice pond for me to sit in?
Do you have any of those?
Sorry, little dude.
No water on Mercury.
I think I’ve got some ice hidden somewhere, though.
Brrr.
This doesn’t sound like a good place for a frog.
Nah, little dude, it’s the best!
I’m the number 1 planet, after all.
Well, do you have any pictures you can show me?
SURE!
My friends at NASA took some pictures of me a couple of times.
They sent up two robotic space probes: Mariner 10, and Messenger.
Leonard reaction noises: ohh, wow, nice, neato Mercury noises: look at this one!
Gnarly.
That was a great day.
Hahaha I forgot about that one.
Duuuude, check it out...
Oh, wow!
You have craters like the Moon!
Our Moon, that is.
Yeah, craters are cool.
Do YOU have a moon?
Nahhh, I’m too busy going super fast to worry about a moon.
Oh, no moon, oh, that’s too bad.
Then again, you’re so SMALL.
Maybe you’re TOO SMALL to have a moon.
Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m too fast.
Moons can’t keep up with me!
Little tiny Mercury.
You know you’re even smaller than some moons?
Saturn’s moon Titan is bigger than you.
Oh, really?
Yeah. And Jupiter’s moon Ganymede
is bigger than you, too.
Where are you going with this, frog dude?
Mercury’s so little and cute, and cratery, just like a Moon!
Hey, cut that out little dude.
I’m not a moon, I’m a PLANET.
I’m the number one Planet!
How do I know you’re not a moon?
BECAUSE.
I don’t orbit around another planet.
I orbit around the SUN.
OHHH.
See, this is what my orbit looks like.
Oh!
It’s a pretty stretched out orbit, isn’t it.
How ECCENTRIC of you...
Yeah - this shape is called an ellipse.
So sometimes I’m really close to the Sun, and sometimes I’m really far away.
The whole trip is over 360 million kilometers.
But that’s okay because I go so FAST.
It only takes me 88 Days!
Yeah, I remember.
88 Days.
You just told me.
Hey, little frog dude.
Want to know how fast I am?
Well, you want to tell me, so…
47 kilometers a second.
Wow.
That’s over a 100,000 miles an hour!
Yeah, I said Wow.
Hey, let’s play a game.
Is this a picture of Mercury or the Moon?
Hey, that’s me!
No, wait.
The moon.
That’s right, the moon!
How about this one?
Mercury?
No, the Moon!
Just kidding.
{embarrassed laugh hahah} Yeah, I think I’d recognize my own craters, little dude.
Are you sure?
How about this one?
Mercury, or The Moon?
Oh, that one’s DEFINITELY me.
That’s a pretty famous crater called Caloris Basin.
It’s my biggest crater.
Those are great pictures, Mercury.
I never knew you were so pretty.
Aw, thanks Leonard.
So how come I don’t see you when I go out stargazing at night?
Are you too small to see?
You CAN see me..sometimes!
I’m constantly running, super-fast around the Sun, so I’m in different places.
So where do I look?
Look out on the horizon, dude.
Sometimes you can see me right at sunset, other times you can see me at sunrise ... You
know, when I’m really close to the Sun.
Did I tell you I’m planet # 1?
Oh, yeah!
Since you’re so close to the Sun...does that mean I can see you during the day?
Nahhhh, no can do, little buddy.
The Sun is WAY too bright for you to see me.
So it’s only when it’s getting dark at night, right at sunset, that I start to appear.
Then I set, soon after the Sun.
So you keep the Sun company?
Yeah, we’re buds.
So ...hmmm...let me get this straight.
If I see you at sunset, do you come back again in the morning?
Just one or the other, little dude.
Some months you see me at sunset, other months you see me at sunrise...in those months, when
it's still a little dark in the morning, right before Sun comes up, you can see me!
Oh, I always thought that was a star.
But you’re not a star!
You’re right there, little frog dude.
I’m a planet.
I’m the NUMBER ONE PLANET!
Well, you’ve got that going for you, which is nice.
I'm Number One! I'm Number One!
Hahahahhaa TUBULAR!!!
Want to watch another Socratica Kids astronomy video with me?
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It’s your choice.
Totally up to you.
You can do it!
Thanks for watching! :)