Mercury is the planet
closest to the Sun, at an average distance from the Sun of about
58 million kilometers. By comparison, Earth is about 150 million
kilometers from the Sun, while Pluto, the furthest planet, averages
an enormous 5.9 billion kilometers away! If you were standing
on Mercury, the Sun would appear much larger than it does on
Earth. And since the Sun-Mercury distance varies so much during
Mercury's orbit, the Sun would appear larger at some times than
at others.
