Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Mercury: Closest Planet to the Sun

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for August 14, 1995 is “Mercury: Closest Planet to the Sun,” an image. It is credited to Credit: NASA, Mariner 10. The original explanation runs about 128 words.

Mercury: Closest Planet to the Sun
Credit: NASA, Mariner 10 Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“This picture was compiled from images taken by the NASA spacecraft Mariner 10 which flew by the planet three times in 1974. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun , the second hottest planet (Venus gets hotter), and the second smallest planet (Pluto is smaller).”

— APOD editors, August 14, 1995

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
August 14, 1995
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: NASA, Mariner 10
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 128 words

All of August 1995 → · 1995 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The SunVenus

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: August 14 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.