Nº 125 · Space · 40 sec

How old would you be on Mars?

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars side by side for size comparison against a black background
Photo: NASA, ESA · Public domain · Original

A day longer than a year

4,222.6hoursis a day on Mercury, from noon to noon

On Mercury it takes 4,222.6 hours for the Sun to return to the same point in the sky – about 176 Earth days. A Mercury year has only 88 days. So a day there lasts as long as two Mercury years.

On Neptune you stay zero forever

A Neptune year lasts 59,800 Earth days, about 164 Earth years. Even someone who lives to 100 wouldn't have had their first birthday there.

Sources

Every statement in this discovery is backed by one of these sources and was checked before publication.

  1. NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive: Planetary Fact Sheet (accessed 2026-10-07)
  2. NASA Science: Mars: Facts (accessed 2026-10-07)
  3. NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive: Neptune Fact Sheet (accessed 2026-10-07)