Vaughn T. Co11ier, Age 11, Of Montgomery, Ala.., for his question:
Can anything live on Mercury?
Mercury is the baby of the planet family and closer than any planet to the sun. It is so near to the sun that we rarely see it, though sometimes it can be seen from the earth for a short time at dawn or sunset. We would expect Mercury to be a hot planet and so it is. But, strange to say, it is also very very cold.
One side of mercury is the hottest spot on any planet of the solar system. The other side is as cold as outer space, which may be close to absolute zero. The hot side of the small planet stays hot while the cold side stays cold, for Mercury does not turn around to face the sun with first one side and then the other.
The baby of the planets orbits the sun much as the moon orbits the earth. It rotates on its axis, but its rotation is equal to the revolution around its orbit. This is why the some side always faces the sun. Mercury orbits the sun at an average distance of 36 million miles which is about one third of the distance from the earth to the sun.
The sunlit side of the little planet is very hot. Recent tests at the Mount Wilson Observatory suggest that the daylight side of Mercury is about 350 degrees centigrade. This is hot enough to melt lead and sulphur to seething liquids. Iron and copper, calcium and carbon and many other chemicals, however, would not melt. The scorching temperature on the sunny side of mercury would roast any living creature we know on earth.
The opposite side of Mercury faces away from the sun. Here it is eternal night. If the small planet had an atmosphere to carry some of the heat around from the sunny side, the dark side might get a little warmth. From time to time, experts have reported that Mercury did have an atmosphere. But these are now proved fa1se.
The night side of Mercury is way, way below zero far too cold for any earth type plant or animal to exist. What's more, Mercury has no air to support life as we know it. It is possible that some water exists as solid ice on the frozen face of mercury, but there is certainly no liquid water on the sunlit face. All living things on earth need liquid water and lots of it. So it seems conditions on Mercury make it impossible for life as we know it to exist at all.