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How Mercury got its spin

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The orbital period of Mercury and its period of rotation are known to be in a 3/2 ratio, but the chances of the planet reaching this state seemed so small as to be unfeasible — until now.

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Figure 1: Mercury's 3/2 spin–orbit resonance.

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  1. the Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611-2055, Florida, USA

    Stanley F. Dermott

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  1. Stanley F. Dermott
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Dermott, S. How Mercury got its spin. Nature 429, 814–815 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/429814a

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