Mercury Coloring Pages

A small planet closest to the Sun Mercury is the planet that orbits closest to the Sun in our solar system. It is much smaller than Earth and just a little bigger than the Moon. Because it is right next to the Sun, it has extreme weather. It gets super hot during the day, but super cold at night!

Where the name comes from

The name of Mercury is related to how fast it moves.

• English Name: In English, it is called Mercury.

• English Origin: Its name comes from Mercurius, the messenger god in Roman myths. Mercurius is a very fast-footed god. Mercury moves around the Sun faster than any other planet, so it got this name.

• Japanese Origin: In Japan, people named it Mercury based on ancient Chinese ideas, using the element water.

What Mercury looks and feels like

A bumpy surface The surface of Mercury looks just like the Moon.

• Craters: Just like the Moon, it has lots of craters made by space rocks crashing into it.

• Almost no air: Mercury has almost no thick air like Earth does, so it cannot protect itself from crashing rocks.

Big changes in temperature

• Daytime temperature: Because it is close to the Sun, it goes up to about 430 degrees Celsius.

• Nighttime temperature: It has no air to hold in the heat, so it drops down to about minus 170 degrees Celsius.

• How to choose colors: Mercury is made of rock. If you color the whole thing in light gray or brownish gray, it will look real!

• How to make it look 3D: Try adding dark gray to the shadowy parts of the craters. That will make it look like a 3D planet with a bumpy surface!

• Think about sunlight: Mercury is close to the sun. Color one side bright and almost white, and color the other side dark. This makes it look like it is getting strong sunlight!

The Planet Closest to the Sun

Mercury travels around the Sun in the closest spot of all eight planets in our solar system. Because it gets hit with super strong sunlight, its ground reaches 430 degrees Celsius during the day. That is hot enough to melt lead!

Looking Just Like the Moon? The Secret of Craters

Mercury has a surface covered with lots of bumpy holes. These are called craters, and they are marks left behind when many space rocks hit it long ago. It looks a lot like Earth's Moon!

Hot and Cold! Wild Changes in Temperature

It gets super hot during the day, but at night, it cools down all the way to about minus 170 degrees Celsius. Mercury has almost no air, so it cannot hold in heat like a cozy blanket. It is a harsh world where the temperature changes by 600 degrees in a single day!

A Year Passes in a Flash

Mercury zips around the Sun much faster than any other planet. While Earth takes a whole year to make one trip around the Sun, Mercury goes all the way around in just 88 days. That means a year on Mercury is shorter than three months on Earth!