At first glance the surface of the planet looks similar to the cratered terrain of the Moon, an impression reinforced by the roughly comparable size of the two bodies. Mercury is far denser, however, having a metallic core that takes up about 61 percent of its volume (compared with 4 percent for the Moon and 16 percent for Earth ). Like the moon, Mercury has very little atmosphere to stop impacts and it is covered with craters. If the planet formed quickly, increasing temperatures of the evolving sun could have vaporized much of the existing surface, leaving only a thin shell. Mercury's dayside is super-heated by the sun, but at night temperatures drop hundreds of degrees below freezing. The highest temperatures on Mercury are about 427°C (800°F). An important property of a planet is its albedo. The temperature of the surface of Mercury changes from day to night.

Depending on location, Mercury's airless surface can be extremely hot or extremely cold. Before we begin to discuss Mercury, let us take a look at the general situation with regard to surface temperatures of planets, relative to the temperature of the central star. The temperature of Mercury varies from day to night, but the planet … With no atmosphere to trap heat, surface temperatures on Mercury can swing from 800 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to -290 degrees Fahrenheit at night.

Caloris Basin — Impact Site. The surface temperature of Mercury ranges from 100 to 700 K (−173 to 427 °C; −280 to 800 °F) at the most extreme places: 0°N, 0°W, or 180°W. The surface of Mercury. Sun-scorched Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, is only slightly larger than Earth's moon.

In fact, Mercury receives 6.5 times the amount of sunlight that the Earth does and every part of the surface of the planet receives direct sunlight for 59 days at a time. As such, you would think it is the hottest of all the Solar planets. Therefore Mercury's very long solar day, close proximity to the Sun and very thin atmosphere, all combine to produce the largest diurnal temperature spread in our solar system. Because the planet has no atmosphere to retain that heat, nighttime temperatures on the surface can drop to minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 180 degrees Celsius). The surface of Mercury, at first glance, looks very much like that of the Moon, but in fact it is different in several ways. Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mercury is the closest to our Sun. The nights on Mercury … Without the moderating effects of an atmosphere or oceans like the Earth, the intense solar radiation (the sun appears about 2½ times larger in Mercury's sky) results in surface temperatures reaching an extreme 700 K (801 o F or 427 o C) at the subsolar point (local noon time). It is understood that the sunny side may reach temperatures of 750 to 800 degrees F., while the nighttime temperature plummets to nearly -330 degrees F. Sun-scorched Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, is only slightly larger than Earth's moon.