Talk:Mercury
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Ed Poor (talk | contribs) at 11:51, March 20, 2007. It may differ significantly from current revision.
Astronomers used to assume that it rotated once every 88 days - although they really had no basis for this assumption. Encyclopedia Britannica even listed its rotation as 88 days (instead of "unknown").
In the 1960s observations showed it had a period of 58.6 (which is exactly 2/3 of 88 days). Another example of publications being in a rush to express certainty where none exists. --Ed Poor 07:51, 20 March 2007 (EDT)