A spacecraft named BepiColombo is currently zipping by planet Mercury, making a very close flyby and snapping incredible high ...

The truth, however, is way more interesting. It's not exactly rare. That’s because Mercury orbits the sun every 88 days. An inner planet to Earth—so closer to the sun—it completes just over ...

This occurrence is more frequent than you may realize. Because Mercury’s orbit is only 88 days long, compared to 365 for Earth, the phenomenon of Mercury in apparent retrograde motion happens ...

ESA's BepiColombo spacecraft is currently undertaking a series of gravity-assisted maneuvers around Mercury, capturing ...

Not only does Mercury go retrograde often—three or four times a year for three weeks at a time—but, to make matters worse, ...

All planets in the solar system move in the same direction around the sun, but because Mercury’s orbit is shorter than ours (88 days versus our 365), it “laps” the Earth a few times a year ...

The times when Mercury appears to go backwards occur every 88 days (the length of the planet’s cycle around the sun), meaning you usually get three retrogrades in a year. Astrology fans believe ...

One day-long spin lasts for 59 Earth days. But because of its fast orbit, one Mercury year takes 88 Earth days. This means that two years on Mercury lasts for only three days. The planet's sunrise ...