4 ms·
For what it's worth (nothing, just interesting to note): Ganymede is larger, and less dense. Mercury's mass is more than twice Ganymede's.
by npongratz 2y ago
For what it's worth (nothing, just interesting to note): Ganymede is larger, and less dense. Mercury's mass is more than twice Ganymede's.
- aaronblohowiak 2y agoThat is a fun fact! Gave me a smile to think about our solar system’s variety. Thank you!
- pitaj 2y agoInteresting. Is that because of different material makeup, or is it somehow related to tidal forces?
- npongratz 2y agoMy understanding is that the composition of each body is different. There's the obvious: More ices and liquids comprise Ganymede, possible since Ganymede is so distant from the Sun. And the not-so-obvious: Mercury is anomalously dense due in part to (likely) having a disproportionally large core of iron and nickel. I find Wikipedia's discussion about Mercury's density in contrast to Earth's fascinating [0]: > If the effect of gravitational compression were to be factored out from both planets, the materials of which Mercury is made would be denser than those of Earth, with an uncompressed density of 5.3 g/cm3 versus Earth's 4.4 g/cm3. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)#Internal_structure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)#Internal_stru...
- kristianc 2y agoMercury is basically a big ball of iron.