Astronomers believe that the planet mercury in the past could become the object of a collision with an asteroid, which affected the orbit motion of this planet. According to astronomers, now the orbit of mercury is atypical and to explain its movement can only any unusual factors.

According to scientists, when one celestial body revolving around another, such as the moon around the planet, the moon and planet frequently revolve around its axis. That is exactly what is happening on the Ground, when the rotation is characterized by the alternation of day and night. However orbital objects very often making noise in the normal rotation of the planet and can slow down, or Vice versa, to accelerate it. If Earth was not the moon, the pace of its rotation around its axis would have been different, and perhaps our planet would be in a stable position and on its one side would be eternal night, and on the other hand, constant day.

For a long period of time, scientists thought that mercury, being the nearest to the Sun planet, much attached to him gravity. However, recent observations have shown that orbit spins very strange mercury - planet makes three full revolution around its axis, making two complete revolution around the Sun. Now scientists believe that in the past mercury was tightly bound to the Sun and there was no such thing as change of a day.

"Most likely, initially orbit of mercury was bound to the Sun and planet did a complete turn around of itself for a complete revolution around the Sun - like the Moon around the Earth," says Alexander Correira, planetology from the University of Aveiro in Portugal.

In the end, Portuguese scientists have conducted computer simulations that showed that the most reasonable explanation for asynchronous orbit of mercury is the impact on the planet unknown asteroid in the past. According to scientists, the mass of the asteroid was supposed to be about 550 trillion tons or 1/600 000 mass of mercury. The diameter of such asteroid was supposed to be about 70 km.

In confirmation of his words scientists give the surface of mercury, which is literally littered with craters from asteroids, speaking about that last planet was under heavy asteroid bombardment. Also Portuguese scientists say their findings they intend to convey to the American colleagues working with spacecraft Messenger, located on the orbit of mercury.