LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Mercury (Planet): Observations
built 627 days ago
Mercury has been known since at least the 3rd millennium BC, when it was known to the Sumerians of Mesopotamia as Ubu-idim-gud-ud, among other names. The Babylonians (2000–1000 BC) succeeded the Sumerians, and early Babylonians may have recorded observations of the planet: although no records have survived, late Babylonian records from the 7th century BC refer to much earlier records. The Babylonians called the planet Nabu or Nebu after the messenger to the Gods in their mythology.
Source:
The flyby will provide an opportunity to examine Mercury's environment in unique ways, not possible once the spacecraft begins orbiting the planet. The flyby ... will map Mercury's tenuous atmosphere with ultraviolet observations and document the energetic particle and plasma of Mercury's magnetosphere. In addition, the flyby trajectory will enable unique particle and plasma measurements of the magnetic tail that sweeps behind Mercury.
Source:
The planet was named for the Roman god Mercury, a winged messenger, and it travels around the Sun faster than any other planet. Mercury is difficult to see from Earth—in fact, the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, for all his years of research and observation, never once was able to see Mercury.
Source:
A third theory suggests that the solar nebula caused drag on the particles from which Mercury was accreting, which meant that lighter particles were lost from the accreting material. Each of these theories predicts a different surface composition, and so one of the aims of the forthcoming MESSENGER mission to the planet is to take observations that will allow the theories to be tested .
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Observations