Mercury

[6EQUJ5]

If you think that the Earth is near to Mercury you must be getting that from diagrams of the Solar System in which the respective gaps between each of the planets are not done to scale, which most diagrams show.

The fastest known craft to travel from Earth to orbit Mercury, Mercury 10, took 147 days to get there. That's how far it is. The Earth is almost 3 times as far from the Sun as Mercury is.

Of course in galactic terms the Earth and Mercury may be considered to be close together. But in terms of the Solar System the distance is substantial and it is crucial for the viability of life because proximity to the Sun affects the temperature. Mercury and Venus are too near to the Sun for life to exist. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto are too far from the Sun for life to exist. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are also gas planets with tiny actual inner cores.

Mercury is almost tidally locked, that is it spins very slowly indeed, only 3 times for every time that it orbits the Sun, 88 days. The temperature of the sunny side reaches 800 degrees fahrenheit and the other side reaches minus 330 degrees fahrenheit, its average temperature is 354 degrees fahrenheit.

A year or so ago traces of a gas that can be produced by life were detected in the atmosphere of Mercury. But there are several other means to produce that gas, including volcanoes. There is no shortage of volcanoes on Mercury.

It is nothing like either a neighbour or a brother of Earth. It is a horse of a totally different feather. It is far too close to the Sun for the most simple form of life to exist on it. Its atmosphere is almost a vacuum. No professional astro-physicist / astro-biologist believes that even the most basic of microbes could exist there.

[6EQUJ5]

Griff, Piglet knows better than he has shown thus far. He is just trying to get my d­ick into Jo Brand!

[Piglet_Phoenix]

Let's demonstrate how wrong you are with some comparative measurements.

If the Sun was a grain of sand, Earth would be less than an inch away from Mercury. Pluto would be roughly 40 inches away. Alpha Centauri would be four miles away and the far side of our galaxy 100,000 miles away.

By almost every definition of distance, in real terms, the Earth is near Mercury.

I reckon you're losing this argument on purpose because you want to pork Joe Brand.

[griff]

I can sense Jo Brand getting them down from here.

[6EQUJ5]

If you miniaturise the entire galaxy then of course you can claim that everything is near to everything else, so that does not make any sense whatsoever.

Mercury cannot have any life on or near to it because it is too near to the Sun and the same is true of Venus. Mercury reaches 800 degrees fahrenheit and drops to -330 degrees fahrenheit on the dark side, the average temperature being 354 degrees fahrenheit. Earth is almost 3 times as far away from the Sun, thus it is temperate for life to exist and evolve over billions of years, this is evident. Water in liquid form, a staple of life, exists on Earth but not on Mercury. The atmosphere of Mercury is almost a vacuum.

Mars is a 7 month journey away and probably too far away from the Sun to support life, though I do not entirely rule it out. It is on the cool outer periphery of the habitable zone.

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are certainly too far away from the Sun to support the simplest microbial life. They are all gas giants with only a very small solid core.

I am frequently in email contact with a worldwide renowned astro-physicist / astro-biologist about this matter and the above represents not only his view but also all of his peers.

If you miniaturise our entire universe then everything in it will be in close proximity to everything else. That is not the slightest use as a debating point.

[Piglet_Phoenix]

You're seriously suggesting 100,000 miles is a "miniaturised" distance?

Distance makes no sense purely on human terms, our planet is not the centre of the Universe, your logic comes from the dark ages.

In relative terms, as demonstrated clearly, the Earth and Mercury are virtually in the same place.

[griff]

Aye, and I reckon that giant marrow wasn’t that big either.

[6EQUJ5]

I am stating that the perception of being close depends upon the scale at which you look at something. You seem determined to state that the Earth is close to Mercury and to do that you scale up to a galaxy view so that you can claim that there is not much distance between them. What we regard as close is of no consequence.

The gist of the matter is that the distance from the Sun to Earth is almost 3 times that of the distance from the Sun to Mercury. That makes Mercury reach temperatures up to 800 degrees fahrenheit and on the dark side -330 degrees fahrenheit with the average temperature 354 degrees fahrenheit. A Russian craft that landed on Mercury survived for only a few minutes. It is a planet of volcanoes. Water, which is a staple of life does, not exist there. The atmosphere is almost a vacuum. Thus there cannot be the most basic form of life there, which is the decisive opinion of the foremost astro-physicists and astro-biologists. There is no credible professional who contradicts this.

Meanwhile the Earth, almost three times further away from the Sun than Mercury, is more temperate and amenable to life in terms of it existing and evolving. Water exists in liquid form, which is very important. There is not the slightest similarity between Earth and Mercury. Their respective distances from the Sun determine this.

Mars is the next outward planet and it is unlikely that there will be any micobes there. I do not quite rule out such life but I consider it to be very unlikely. The average temperature is -81 degrees fahrenheit but in the winter drop as low as -220 degrees fahrenheit.

Outward beyond Mars there are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune which are all much colder than Mars because of their distance from the Sun.

In summary, the only place in the Solar System with any kind of life is almost certainly Earth, with a very low chance of microbes on Mars.

In the quote you are implying that Mercury and the Earth are close enough for both to have the conditions capable of supporting microbes. But as I have made clear above there is obviously enough distance between Mercury and Earth relative to the Sun such that Mercury is far too hot to support the most basic form of life whilst the Earth is perfect for live to thrive.

Whatever.

The Earth is near Mercury.

Therefore you have to attempt to sleep with Joe Brand as there definitely is microbial life on Earth.

[Piglet_Phoenix]

Surely the trick of landing on Mercury is to do it at night, so the Sun's down and it's cooler.

I'm not implying anything other than two entirely true assertions.

1) The Earth is near Mercury

2) You've got a raging hard-on for Joe Brand.

I don't give a monkeys about microbes.

[cocopops61]

You get a more sophisticated kind of banz on this forum 😄