How far is Mercury from the Sun?

Mercury's orbit is highly elliptical. This means that it revolves around the Sun so that it comes closer to the Sun and then farther away. Also, Mercury has a very strange rotation rate. Its gravitational dance with the Sun, combined with its eccentric orbit, has locked it into a 3:2 spin-orbit coupling. This means that the planet rotates three times for every two times it goes around the Sun.

Taking all of this in consideration, Mercury orbits at an average distance of 57.99 million kilometers (about 36 million miles) from the Sun, or 0.387 AU (astronomical units).

"The orbit of Mercury is the most eccentric of the planets; its eccentricity is 0.21 with its distance from the Sun ranging from 46,000,000 to 70,000,000 kilometers. It takes 88 days to complete an orbit. The diagram on the left illustrates the effects of the eccentricity, showing Mercury’s orbit overlain with a circular orbit having the same semi-major axis."

"Aphelion 69,816,927 km
0.46669733 AU
Perihelion: 46,001,210 km
0.30749909 AU"
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28planet%29

Mercury is the planet nearest the sun. It has a diameter of 3,032 miles (4,879 kilometers), about two-fifths of Earth's diameter. Mercury orbits the sun at an average distance of about 36 million miles (58 million kilometers), compared with about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) for Earth.

Because of Mercury's size and nearness to the brightly shining sun, the planet is often hard to see from the Earth without a telescope. At certain times of the year, Mercury can be seen low in the western sky just after sunset. At other times, it can be seen low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.

Orbit

Mercury travels around the sun in an elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit. The planet is about 28,580,000 miles (46,000,000 kilometers) from the sun at its closest point, and about 43,380,000 miles (69,820,000 kilometers) from the sun at its farthest point. Mercury is about 48,000,000 miles (77,300,000 kilometers) from Earth at its closest approach.

Mercury moves around the sun faster than any other planet. The ancient Romans named it Mercury in honor of the swift messenger of their gods. Mercury travels about 30 miles (48 kilometers) per second, and goes around the sun once every 88 Earth days. The Earth goes around the sun once every 365 days, or one year.
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/mercury_worldbook.html

57.99 millon kilometers
duh bitch!!!

Mercury orbits the sun at an average distance of about 36 million miles (58 million km), compared with about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) for Earth.

http://www.solarsystemquick.com/mercury.htm

36 million miles, compared to 93 million miles.

Only 57 million miles is the difference between being an airless, barren, broiled rock and a life-filled, water-covered world...

Share your answer...