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The planet Mercury rotates very slowly, taking almost 59 Earth days to turn once (58.646 days). However, it also orbits the Sun very rapidly, about once every 88 Earth days, which combines with the slow rotation to create an unusual situation.

The solar day (sunrise to sunrise) on Mercury is 176 Earth days, or twice the length of its year! This further increases the drastic temperature extremes that the surface experiences, alternately seared for months by solar heat and then frozen for months as it turns away from the Sun.

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*Due to the tidal effects of the Sun's gravity, the equatorial rotation of Mercury is only about 10 km/hr (far slower than Earth's 1600 km/hr). This means a "day" on Mercury is about 1400 Earth hours (58.6 days).

(see the related question)

58.6461 Earth Days, rounded to 58.65 Earth Days

is the correct answer!

-lkw

That's the rotation period, also known as the "sidereal" day".

The "solar day" is 3 times longer, at about 176 Earth days.

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10y ago

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How long is one day on mercury how long is one year mercury?

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