Mercury: Crash Course Astronomy #13

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It has no atmosphere and is, as such, covered in craters. It's also incredibly hot but, surprisingly, has water ice hiding beneath its surface.

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Table of Contents
Closest Planet to the Sun 0:03
Rotation Locked to its 2 to 3 Orbit Ratio 3:10
Deep Crater Water Ice 8:39

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PHOTOS/VIDEOS
Mercury relief in Olomouc: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mercury_relief_in_Olomouc.jpg [credit: Michal Maňas]
Mercury: Phil Plait
Mercury in color: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercury_in_color_c1000_700_430.png [credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington]
Earth Based View of Mercury: http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/multimedia/detail.cfm?id=3726 [credit: Catalina Observatory]
Caloris Basin: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1503/PIA19216MessengerCaloris.jpg [credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ. APL, Arizona State U., CIW]
MESSENGER photos:
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/pics/EW1010234404_500_web.jpg
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/pics/EN0108830230M.jpg
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/pics/EW0224377798G.nomap.png
[credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington]
Mercury’s core: http://astrosun2.astro.cornell.edu/~jlm/out/Mercury/mercury_NSF_printsize.jpg [credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation]
Mercury’s Ice Lockers: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=11184 [credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington]
Mercury’s Tail: http://geeked.gsfc.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Mercury_exosphere_600-full.jpg [credit: NASA]