Life on Mercury
It has been speculated that the planet Mercury could harbor life.[by whom?] Although it is exceptionally warm among the planets, second only to Venus, it has regions of mild temperatures, such as its north and south poles, that contain water ice. Certain regions, such as the poles, are shielded from the Sun's intense rays by Mercury's unusual orbit.[1] Water is regarded as one of the fundamental compounds necessary for life as we know it to develop, and therefore some have speculated on the potential habitability of that planet.[who?]
It has also been speculated that planets with certain resonant orbits could allow photosynthetic life to develop due to prolonged periods of light available.[2][clarification needed The published article actually says "Mercury itself is unlikely to be habitable"]
However, life on Mercury is unlikely, due to temperature extremes, numerous impacts with asteroids, comets, and meteoroids, and the atmosphere is virtually nonexistent, unable to trap heat or protect the planet from the Sun's radiation.[3] All scientific evidence indicates that there has never been life on Mercury and never will be.[3]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Life on Mercury? Scientists claim discovery of water on the "Swift Planet"". RT News. November 30, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
- ↑ Choi, Charles Q. (September 15, 2014). "Planets with Oddball Orbits like Mercury Could Host Life". Astrobiology Magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Coffey, Jeffry (December 9, 2008). "Life on Mercury". Universe Today. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
| Disciplines | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main topics |
| ||||||||||||
| Planetary habitability |
| ||||||||||||
| Space missions |
| ||||||||||||
| Institutions and programs |
| ||||||||||||
 | This biology article is a stub. You can help EverybodyWiki by expanding it. |
 | This article about the planet Mercury is a stub. You can help EverybodyWiki by expanding it. |
This article "Life on Mercury" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
