Fictional depictions of Mercury, the innermost planet of the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

, have gone through three distinct phases. Before much was known about the planet, it received scant attention. Later, when it was incorrectly believed that it was

tidally locked Tidal locking between a pair of co-orbiting astronomical bodies occurs when one of the objects reaches a state where there is no longer any net change in its rotation rate over the course of a complete orbit. In the case where a tidally locked bo ...

with the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

creating a permanent dayside and nightside, stories mainly focused on the conditions of the two sides and the narrow region of permanent twilight between. Since that misconception was dispelled in 1965, the planet has again received less attention from fiction writers, and stories have largely concentrated on the harsh environmental conditions that come from the planet's proximity to the Sun.

Early depictions

Being close to the

makes astronomical observations of Mercury difficult, and throughout most of history little was consequently known about it, which was reflected in fiction writing. It has appeared as a

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to eng ...

in fiction since at least the 1622 work ' by

Giambattista Marino Giovanni Battista was a common Italian given name (see Battista for those with the surname) in the 16th-18th centuries. It refers to "John the Baptist" in English, the French equivalent is "Jean-Baptiste". Common nicknames include Giambattista, Gi ...

. The 1750 novel '' Relation du Monde de Mercure'' (English title: ''The World of Mercury'') by Chevalier de Béthune is another early example which is unusual in not using the fictional extraterrestrial society for purposes of

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. In

W. S. Lach-Szyrma The Reverend Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, M.A., F.R.H.S. (25 December 1841 – 25 June 1915) was a British curate, historian and science fiction writer. He is credited as one of the first science fiction writers to use the word "Martian ...

's 1883 novel ''

Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds ''Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds'' is an 1883 science fiction novel by Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, a Polish-English curate, author, and historian. The book is an expanded version of Lach-Szyrma's earlier work '' A Voice from Another ...

'', Mercurians are depicted as living in the planet's atmosphere. John Munro's 1897 novel '' A Trip to Venus'' portrays a brief visit to Mercury as well as Venus. The first English-language work of fiction set primarily on Mercury was

William Wallace Cook William Wallace Cook (1867-1933) also known by the pen-name John Milton Edwards, was an American journalist and author of popular fiction. His works include westerns, adventure stories, dime novels The dime novel is a form of late 19th-cent ...

's 1905 novel '' Adrift in the Unknown, or Adventures in a Queer Realm'', a satire on United States capitalism. Homer Eon Flint's 1919 short story " The Lord of Death" depicts the ruins of a previous civilization now extinct on Mercury.

Tidal locking

From 1893 to 1965, it was believed that Mercury was 1:1

with the Sun such that one side of Mercury was always in sunlight and the opposite side always in darkness, with a thin band of perpetual twilight in between; numerous works of fiction written in this period portray Mercury in this way. Examples include

Ray Cummings Ray Cummings (born Raymond King Cummings) (August 30, 1887 – January 23, 1957) was an American author of science fiction literature and comic books. Early life Cummings was born in New York City in 1887. He worked with Thomas Edison as a ...

' 1930 novel '' Tama of the Light Country'' where the inhabitants of Mercury live their lives under an unmoving Sun, Clark Ashton Smith's 1932 short story " The Immortals of Mercury" where there are two different hostile species on the planet, Isaac Asimov's 1942 short story " Runaround" (later included in the 1950

fix-up A fix-up (or fixup) is a novel created from several short fiction stories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material, such as a frame s ...

novel ''

I, Robot ''I, Robot'' is a fixup (compilation) novel of science fiction short stories or essays by American writer Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines ''Super Science Stories'' and '' Astounding Science Fiction'' be ...

'') where a robot is sent to retrieve critical supplies from the inhospitable dayside and malfunctions,

Hal Clement Harry Clement Stubbs (May 30, 1922 – October 29, 2003), better known by the pen name Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre. He also painted astronomically oriented artworks under ...

's 1953 novel ''

Iceworld ''Iceworld'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Hal Clement. It was published in 1953 by Gnome Press in an edition of 4,000 copies. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine ''Astounding'' in 1951. Plot The novel concerns an ...

'' where aliens accustomed to much higher temperatures than those found on Earth set up camp on the hot dayside of Mercury, Asimov's 1956 short story "

The Dying Night "The Dying Night" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the July 1956 issue of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', and was reprinted in the collections '' Nine Tomorrows'' (1959), ...

" where a character who has spent a long time on Mercury is used to there being areas in permanent darkness,

Alan E. Nourse Alan Edward Nourse (August 11, 1928 – July 19, 1992) was an American science fiction writer and physician. He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction, as well as nonfiction works about medicine and science. His SF works sometimes focused ...

's 1956 short story " Brightside Crossing" which depicts an attempt to cross the illuminated side of the planet " because it's there" as a feat similar to the then-recent first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953,

Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...

's 1957 short story "

Life Cycle Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to: Science and academia *Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring * Life-cycle hypothesis ...

" where there is a species that changes from female to male when it goes from the nightside to the dayside and vice versa,

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

's 1959 novel ''

The Sirens of Titan ''The Sirens of Titan'' is a comic science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., first published in 1959. His second novel, it involves issues of free will, omniscience, and the overall purpose of human history. Much of the story revolves around ...

'' where there are lifeforms in caves on the nightside that live off of vibrations, and Eli Sagi's 1963 novel '' Harpatkotav Shel Captain Yuno Al Ha'kochav Ha'mistori'' (English title: ''The Adventures of Captain Yuno on the Mysterious Planet'') where the inhabitants of the respective hemispheres are at war.

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are '' Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, '' The Mote in God's E ...

's 1964 short story " The Coldest Place" depicts the nightside of Mercury and may have been the last story of a tidally locked Mercury before it was discovered that the planet actually has a 3:2 spin–orbit resonance such that all sides regularly see daylight.

Modern depictions

Even after it was discovered that Mercury is not tidally locked with the Sun, some stories continued to use the juxtaposition of the hot daytime side facing the Sun and the cold nighttime side facing away as a

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelie ...

; the 1982 short story " The Tortoise and O'Hare" by

Grant Callin ''Saturnalia'' was a 1986 science fiction novel by Grant Callin, published by Baen Books. It was based on a short story named "Saturn Alia". It was followed by a sequel, ''A Lion on Tharthee''. Plot summary In the late twenty-first century, a s ...

portrays an astronaut who struggles to stay on the night side of the terminator line in order to avoid dying from the heat of the dayside, and both the 1985 novel ''

The Memory of Whiteness ''The Memory of Whiteness'' is a science fiction novel written by Kim Stanley Robinson and published in September 1985. It shares with the Mars trilogy a focus on human colonization of the Solar System and depicts a grand tour that travels from th ...

'' by

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...

and the 2008 novel '' Saturn's Children'' by

Charles Stross Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine '' ...

depict cities that move to stay in the sunrise area where it is neither too hot nor too cold. In general, however, most post-1965 stories focus on the generally harsh conditions of the planet. Said science fiction scholar

Gary Westfahl Gary Wesley Westfahl (born May 7, 1951) is an American scholar of science fiction. He has written reviews for the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The Internet Review of Science Fiction'' and Locus Online. He worked at the University of California, River ...

in 2021, "Barring some unexpected discovery, however, science-fictional visits to Mercury will probably remain uncommon". Other purposes for Mercury in modern

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

include as a base for studying the Sun, as in the 1980 novel '' Sundiver'' by

David Brin Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American scientist and author of science fiction. He has won the Hugo,extraterrestrial life inside the Sun. Similarly, the planet is used as a

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...

station in the 2005 novel '' Mercury'', part of Ben Bova's ''Grand Tour'' series. It is occasionally mined for minerals, as in the 1992 video game ''

Star Control II ''Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters'' is a 1992 video game, the sequel to '' Star Control''. It was developed by Toys for Bob ( Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III) and originally published by Accolade in 1992 for MS-DOS. This game features exoplan ...

'' and the 1994 short story " Cilia-of-Gold" by Stephen Baxter which also features life below the ice in a permanently shadowed region near one of the planet's poles. The 1973 novel ''

Rendezvous with Rama ''Rendezvous with Rama'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1973. Set in the 2130s, the story involves a cylindrical alien starship that enters the Solar System. The story is told from the po ...

'' by Arthur C. Clarke portrays the descendants of human colonists on Mercury, known as Hermians, as tough and paranoid. Several stories portray struggles against bureaucratic forces, as in the 1976 short story " Render unto Caesar" by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin where a Mercurian colony resists United Nations influence in order to stay independent. A

terraformed Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make ...

Mercury enclosed in an enormous man-made structure is depicted in the 2000 short story " Romance in Extended Time" by

Tom Purdom Thomas Edward Purdom (born 1936) is an American writer best known for science fiction and nonfiction. His story "Fossil Games" was a nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2000. He has also done music criticism since 1988. His works hav ...

. The terraforming of Mercury is also portrayed in the 2000 music album Deltron 3030 by the group of the same name. In the 2005 short story " Kath and Quicksilver" by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper, Mercury is threatened by the expansion of the Sun. The animated television series ''

Invader Zim ''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction dark comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...

'' from the early 2000s depicts Mercury being turned into an enormous spacecraft. It serves as a backdrop in the 2007 film '' Sunshine'' when one spacecraft goes into orbit around Mercury before rendezvousing with another.

Vulcan

Anomalies in Mercury's orbit around the Sun led

Urbain Le Verrier Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier FRS (FOR) H FRSE (; 11 March 1811 – 23 September 1877) was a French astronomer and mathematician who specialized in celestial mechanics and is best known for predicting the existence and position of Neptune usin ...

to propose the existence of an unseen planet with an orbit interior to Mercury's exerting gravitational influence in 1859, similar to how irregularities in Uranus' orbit had led to his

discovery of Neptune The planet Neptune was mathematically predicted before it was directly observed. With a prediction by Urbain Le Verrier, telescopic observations confirming the existence of a major planet were made on the night of September 23–24, 1846, at the ...

in 1846. This hypothesized planet was dubbed "Vulcan", and featured in several works of fiction including the 1932 short story " The Hell Planet" by

Leslie F. Stone Leslie Frances Silberberg (June 8, 1905 – March 21, 1991), known by the pen name Leslie F. Stone, was an American writer and one of the first women science fiction pulp writers, contributing over 20 stories to science fiction magazines between ...

where it is mined for resources, the 1936 short story " At the Center of Gravity" by Ross Rocklynne where its hollow interior is visited, and the 1942 short story "

Child of the Sun Child of the Sun is a collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on the campus of the Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. The twelve original buildings were constructed between 1941 and 1958. Another of Wright's designs, a ...

" by

Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for '' The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Go ...

where it is inhabited by intelligent life. Mercury's orbital anomalies are now understood to be caused by the effects of

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

Early depictions

Tidal locking

Modern depictions

Vulcan

Notes

References

Further reading