Query: The sun was so intense, it took the mercury up to in excess of 120°F as it topped out at 122.4 °F (50.2°C).

Relevant passages:
Sun <=SEP=> The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System . It is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma , with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process . It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth . Its diameter is about 109 times that of Earth , and its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth , accounting for about 99.86 % of the total mass of the Solar System .  About three quarters of the Sun 's mass consists of hydrogen ( ~ 73 % ) ; the rest is mostly helium ( ~ 25 % ) , with much smaller quantities of heavier elements , including oxygen , carbon , neon , and iron .   The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star ( G2V ) based on its spectral class . As such , it is informally referred to as a yellow dwarf . It formed approximately 4.6 billionAll numbers in this article are short scale . One billion is 109 , or 1,000,000,000 . years ago from the gravitational collapse of matter within a region of a large molecular cloud . Most of this matter gathered in the center , whereas the rest flattened into an orbiting disk that became the Solar System . The central mass became so hot and dense that it eventually initiated nuclear fusion in its core . It is thought that almost all stars form by this process .   The Sun is roughly middle-aged ; it has not changed dramatically for more than four billion years , and will remain fairly stable for more than another five billion years . After hydrogen fusion in its core has diminished to the point at which it is no longer in hydrostatic equilibrium , the core of the Sun will experience a marked increase in density and temperature while its outer layers expand to eventually become a red giant . It is calculated that the Sun will become sufficiently large to engulf the current orbits of Mercury and Venus , and render Earth uninhabitable .   The enormous effect of the Sun on Earth has been recognized since prehistoric times , and the Sun has been regarded by some cultures as a deity . The synodic rotation of Earth and its orbit around the Sun are the basis of the solar calendar , which is the predominant calendar in use today .

Mercury (planet) <=SEP=> Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System . Its orbital period around the Sun of 88 days is the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System . It is named after the Roman deity Mercury , the messenger to the gods .   Like Venus , Mercury orbits the Sun within Earth 's orbit as an inferior planet , so it can only be seen visually in the morning or the evening sky , and never exceeds 28 ° away from the Sun . Also , like Venus and the Moon , the planet displays the complete range of phases as it moves around its orbit relative to Earth . Seen from Earth , this cycle of phases reoccurs  approximately every 116 days , the so-called synodic period . Although Mercury can appear as a bright star-like object when viewed from Earth , its proximity to the Sun often makes it more difficult to see than Venus .   Mercury is tidally or gravitationally locked with the Sun in a 3:2 resonance , and rotates in a way that is unique in the Solar System . As seen relative to the fixed stars , it rotates on its axis exactly three times for every two revolutions it makes around the Sun . As seen from the Sun , in a frame of reference that rotates with the orbital motion , it appears to rotate only once every two Mercurian years . An observer on Mercury would therefore see only one day every two years .   Mercury 's axis has the smallest tilt of any of the Solar System 's planets ( about degree ) , and its orbital eccentricity is the largest of all known planets in the Solar System . At aphelion , Mercury is about 1.5 times as far from the Sun as it is at perihelion . Mercury 's surface appears heavily cratered and is similar in appearance to the Moon 's , indicating that it has been geologically inactive for billions of years . Having almost no atmosphere to retain heat , it has surface temperatures that vary diurnally more than on any other planet in the Solar System , ranging from 100 K at night to 700 K during the day across the equatorial regions . The polar regions are constantly below 180 K . The planet has no known natural satellites .   Two spacecraft have visited Mercury : flew by in 1974 and 1975 ; and MESSENGER , launched in 2004 , orbited Mercury over 4,000 times in four years before exhausting its fuel and crashing into the planet 's surface on April 30 , 2015 .