Mercury (planet) Mercury (planet) Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System. Its orbital period around the Sun of 87.97 days is the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System. It is named after the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger of the gods. Like Venus, Mercury orbits the Sun within Earth's orbit as an "inferior planet", and never exceeds 28° away from the Sun. When viewed from Earth, this proximity to the Sun means the planet can only be seen near the western or eastern horizon during the early evening or early morning. At this time it
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (abbreviation: MPS; ) is a research institute in astronomy and astrophysics located in Göttingen, Germany, where it relocated in February 2014 from the nearby village of Lindau. The exploration of the solar system is the central theme for research done at this institute. MPS is a part of the Max Planck Society, which operates 80 research facilities in Germany. Over the last five years, members of the Institute have each year published about 270 articles in international journals and books and given 360 conference presentations.