Mercury

About this page

Above is a GPU-accelerated, real-time visualization of Mercury, the smallest and innermost planet of our Solar System. This rocky world is heavily cratered, resembling our Moon, and experiences extreme temperature changes between day and night. The simulation showcases Mercury’s surface detail and realistic phase lighting as it orbits close to the Sun.

What you’re seeing

Mercury rotates slowly — once every 58.6 Earth days — and has a unique 3:2 spin-orbit resonance, meaning it completes three rotations for every two orbits around the Sun. The surface is marked by large impact basins such as the Caloris Basin, extensive plains, and countless craters. Without a significant atmosphere, Mercury has sharp, high-contrast shadows and no limb haze.

The simulation uses high-resolution shading to highlight its rugged terrain, with lighting from a fixed Sun position. Because Mercury is an inner planet, it shows pronounced phases when viewed from Earth, similar to Venus.

Observing Mercury

Mercury is often challenging to see because it stays close to the Sun, usually visible only shortly after sunset or before sunrise. It appears as a small, bright point of light in binoculars, and with a telescope, its changing phases can be seen. Surface detail is extremely difficult to observe from Earth due to its small apparent size.

Tech notes

This visualization runs in WebGL2 by default with physically based rendering (PBR), ACES tone mapping, and sRGB output. Detailed height and normal maps create realistic crater shadows and surface roughness. Because there is no atmosphere, the shader omits atmospheric scattering and limb darkening. On supported browsers, enabling WebGPU can improve rendering performance and detail. This is an educational model based on real planetary imagery from NASA’s MESSENGER mission.