Trolls Around The Solar System (Part 1

As I announced a few days ago, my trolls decided to go on a cosmic cruise across our solar system. They will visit all the eight planets and tell us many interesting facts about them. Do you want to follow them? Then read on!

The three trolls left the Earth again on their DIY rocket. Their first stop is Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. Fortunately, they left home well-prepared and took plenty of sunscreen with them, hats, fans and sunglasses.

- Woah! It's too bright out here, X42 said.

- Of course it is, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Therefore, the Sun appears bigger and brighter than on the Earth, wise X31 explained.

- And it's definitely A LOT hotter! My fan doesn't seem to cool me at all, I miss my air condition back at home! X54 exclaimed.

- Yes, days on Mercury can get as hot as 450 °C, but during nightime temperature drops to almost -180 °C! That's why I told you to get both summer and winter clothes and accesories, X31 said.

- Minus 180!? That's even colder than cold! X54 said in terror.

- And darker than dark, X31 added. You see, Mercury doesn't have a moon so there is nothing to light up the planet's sky at nights.

- This is so depressing, X54 said. The moon is a symbol of hope with its light bringing some comfort in the dark of the night. Thank God we have a moon back on Earth.

- But its ground looks a lot like the moon we visited the other day, X42 noticed.

- It does, indeed, X31 said. This happens because Mercury doesn't have an atmosphere. Solar wind and weak gravitational pull do not allow it to do so. The atmosphere works as a protective shield to fight off asteroids and meteorites that hit a planet. But poor Mercury stands here alone and naked, vulnerable to impacts that leave it with all those holes.

- That's why its surface looks like a teenage face scarred by bad acne? X42 said laughing.

- Well, that's quite strange a simile, but yes, X31 said. Mercury is just a bit bigger than our moon, which means that gravity here is weak. It is very close to the Sun, about 58 million kilometers, so the solar wind violently sweeps its atmosphere away. The planet is defenceless in front of cosmic "missiles" that land on it harshly.

- What are these trails on the ground? X54 asked.

- These are the "crater rays", X31 explained. When a comet or asteroid hits Mercury, a big crater hole is made and a lot of rock is crushed at that point. Some of it is tossed away and then hits back the ground leaving those trails behind. Some believe that water on Mercury exists because of those impacts as well, you know, from the ice on the asteroids that make it to the surface of the planet.

- X31, does a year last the same here as on Earth? X42 was curious.

- Well, no. Mercury is really weird when it comes to movement. Despite being the fastest planet orbiting the Sun, at a 180,000 km/h speed!

- Slow down Speedy Gonzalez! X42 said.

- Haha! X54 laughed.

- Yes, it's the only planet that orbits the Sun in 88 days, X31 said. And do you want to hear something else about its weird orbit? Mercury years may be the shortest, but a day here lasts almost 59 earth-days; because despite orbiting the Sun so fast, it spins around itself really slow. A complete day-night cycle takes almost 176 earth-days.

- Two days on Mercury are like a year on Earth? Wow! X54 was surprised.

- The planet orbits the Sun following an ellipsis meaning that there are times it gets as close as 47 million kilometers and times it gets as far as 70 million kilometers from the star, X31 continued. And another weird result of this elliptical orbit is that during sunrise the sun rises for a moment, sets and then rises back again. The same happens during sunset, only the other way round.

- It's like watching two sunrises on the same day! It must be really beautiful! X54 said.

- And two sunsets, X42 added.

- Yes, days on Mercury might take longer to come and go but they try to make up for it with the double sunrises and sunsets, X31 joked.

- Too bad we will see neither, I wouldn't want to stay here for two months waiting for the Sun to set, X54 sounded quite disappointed.

- Come on X54, X31 said, we will get to see so many beautiful things on the other planets we are visiting. Don't worry, missing a double sunset is not that big a deal.

Suddenly, strong winds start blowing and the trolls look scared.

- Where did the wind come from?! Mercury has no atmosphere, X42 said worriedly.

- It's the magnetic tornadoes! X31 explained. When solar wind hits Mercury, it reacts with the planet's weak magnetic field. Then, hot, fresh plasma blowing in extremely high speeds start swirling downwards to the planet's surface. When the ionized plasma particles reach the ground they meet neutral atoms and kick them high into the sky on a loop.

- We have no time for a lesson, X31, X42 shouted. Come on! We need to get out of here! The tornado is getting closer!

- Yes, I'm scared, let's go quickly, X54 yelled.

- Get on board trolls! We're taking off! X31 ordered.

And just like that our three little friends left Mercury. On their way up, they could see the fierce tornado sweeping the ground and they felt lucky and relieved to have left on time. Right now, they were flying towards their next destination, Earth's twin sister, Venus. What new adventures await them there? What new things will they learn? Follow them and find out soon!