How Planet's Got Their Names: Mercury Edition

Welcome to the first part of a small series of posts I am doing on how the planets in our solar system got their names. This week I'll be looking at the planet closest to the sun, Mercury!

Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun

See it all goes back to Roman times as all the planets are named after the Roman gods. Back then, there was not as much light given off by our population centers as there is now so it was very easy to see all the stars and planets, and because of this they were aware of seven of the planets in the night sky.

Mercury in Roman mythology was the messenger of all the gods (Or Hermes in Greek mythology) known for his speed. So Mercury was quickly associated with this simply because it traversed the night sky the fastest!

Hope you enjoyed the short and simple story around how Mercury got it's name. Next week Venus! Keep your eyes on the sky everyone.