planet mercury part 3
Mercury is gravitationally locked
with the Sun in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance
, and rotates in a way that is unique in the Solar System. As seen relative to the fixed stars
, it rotates on its axis exactly three times for every two revolutions it makes around the Sun. As seen from the Sun, in a frame of reference
that rotates with the orbital motion, it appears to rotate only once every two Mercurian years. An observer on Mercury would therefore see only one day every two years.
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