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Without a thick atmosphere Mercury swings from scorching days to freezing nights. The figure is taken from NASA Science, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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Mercury experiences extreme surface temperature swings

Without a thick atmosphere Mercury swings from scorching days to freezing nights

Because Mercury has virtually no atmosphere to trap thermal energy, its surface temperature fluctuates dramatically. During the daytime, temperatures reach around 430 degrees Celsius, but at night they plunge to minus 180 degrees Celsius, creating the largest temperature range of any solar system planet.

Where this comes from

NASA Science

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Saturn is the only solar system planet less dense than waterThe massive gas giant would float if placed in a vast oceanic basin A day on Venus is longer than its yearVenus turns so slowly that its day outlasts its trip around the Sun Jupiter has the shortest day of any solar system planetThe gas giant completes a full rotation in under ten hours Only two elements are liquid at room temperatureMercury and bromine are the sole elemental substances that melt below twenty degrees The Sun outer corona is hundreds of times hotter than its surfaceWhile the solar surface sits at 5,500 degrees C the corona reaches millions Venus is the hottest planet in the solar systemThick greenhouse gases trap heat to make Venus hotter than Mercury

Tags: mercury, temperature, planets

Mercury experiences extreme surface temperature swings: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Without a thick atmosphere Mercury swings from scorching days to freezing nights. The figure is taken from NASA Science, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a space fact?: Yes. It sits on the Space shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.