Mercury/Neptune

Our solar system consists of the Sun, the planets and their moon satellites, asteroids (small planets), comets, and meteorites. The planets are generally divided into two categories Earth-like (terrestrial) planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars and Giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Little is known about Pluto, the most remote planet from Earth. 

The density estimates in Table 7.1 show a distinction between the structures of the planets, with Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars all having mean densities consistent with a rocky internal structure. The Earth-like nature of their composition, orbital periods and distance from the Sun enable these to be classified as the terrestrial planets. Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus have very low densities and are simple gas giants, perhaps with a very small rocky core. Neptune and Pluto clearly contain more dense materials, perhaps a mixture of gas, rock and ice. 

J In outer space, frozen water, or ice, has been found on the moon, on planets— particularly Mercury, Mars, Neptune, and Pluto—and in comets and clouds between stars in our galaxy. Recent explorations of Mars indicate that there may be liquid water underground on Mars.This means there could be microorganisms living there ... 

Figure 8.2 Logarithmic spiral with superimposed mean planetary orbits. The circles in blue define the orbits of inner planets on a larger (self-similarj scale. The divergence angle of 108° causes those planets at angles of 5 x 108° apart to lie on opposite sides of the spiral origin. These pairs are Neptune-Mars, Uranus-Earth, Saturn-Venus and Jupiter-Mercury. The hypothetical antipode of the asteroid belt, a second, unobserved group of unagglomerated fragments, has been swallowed up by the sun...

When thinking about how our solar system may have evolved from proplyds (protoplanetary disks), we must remember that the violence of the early Solar System was tremendous as huge chunks of matter bombarded each other. In the inner Solar System, the Sun s heat drove away the lighter-weight elements and materials, leaving Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars behind. In the outer part of the system, the solar nebulas (gas and dust) survived for some time and were accumulated by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. 

But what was there, in addition to water, on the primitive Earth The four outer planets of the solar system (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are still made up mainly of hydrogen, helium, methane, ammonia and water, and it is likely that those same chemicals were abundant everywhere else in the solar system, and therefore even in its four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars). These were too small to trap light chemicals, such as hydrogen and helium, but the Earth had a large enough mass to keep all the others. It is likely therefore that the Earth s first atmosphere had great amounts of methane (CH4), ammonia (NHJ and water, and was, as a result, heavy and reducing, like Jupiter s. 

Body Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto... 

At the time, more than a dozen planetary satellites had already been discovered for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. None had been found for Venus or Mercury, nor were they likely to be found, given the proximity of these planets to the Sun. Mars likewise had no satellites. .. or, at least, none that had yet been discovered. 

The solar system is sometimes divided into two parts consisting of the inner planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars—and the outer planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and, until recently, Pluto. One might imagine that understanding the chemical and physical properties of the inner planets would help in understanding the chemical and physical properties of the outer planets. No such luck. The two groups of planets differ from each other in some fundamental and important ways. 

The composition of the outer planets is also very different from that of the inner planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are all made of rocky-like material with a density of about 5.5 g/cm3. By contrast, the outer planets seem to consist largely of gases (which accounts for their sometimes being called the gas giants) with densities of about 0.69 g/cm3 for Saturn to 1.54 g/cm3 for Neptune. These... 

The outer planets also tend to have a number of satellites with (at last count) 56 orbiting Saturn, 63 around Jupiter, 27 around Uranus, and 13 around Neptune, compared to the virtual absence of satellites in the inner planets Mercury with 0 Venus, 0 Earth, 1 and Mars 2. 

The chapters in this part help fill in those blanks. Chapter 8 illuminates the Moon and the Nodes of the Moon in all 12 signs. Chapters 9 and 10 discuss Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto — plus the asteroid Chiron, which was discovered in 1977 and is now routinely included in horoscopes by many astrologers. Chapter 11 talks about the Ascendant, and Chapter 12 describes the influence of the planets in each of the houses. Finally, Chapter 13 looks at the way the planets interact by analyzing the aspects, or geometrical relationships, that link them together. 

The sign that the Sun occupied at the moment of your birth is the most basic astrological fact about you. It defines your ego, motivations, needs, and approach to life. But the Sun isn t the only planet that affects you. (For astrological purposes, both luminaries — the Sun and the Moon — are called planets. Do yourself a favor and don t use this terminology when talking to astronomers.) Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, not to mention the Moon, represent distinct types of energy that express themselves in the style of the sign they re in. 

Pluto has two symbols. One is a snazzy-looking metaphysical design A small circle held within a crescent and balanced on a cross. 1 don t use this symbol because it s too easy to confuse with the glyphs of the other planets (Mercury and Neptune in particular). But many astrologers prefer it. 

I consider the planets in this order first the Sun and Moon, then the planets in order of their distance from the Sun Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. When looking up an aspect, be sure to look for it under the planet that comes first in the list. An aspect between Mercury and Uranus, for example, appears under Mercury an opposition between Venus and Pluto is discussed under Venus, and so on. 

Mercury thinks, while Neptune dreams. Mercury can help turn Neptune s fantasies into realities, while Neptune brings insight and flights of fancy to Mercury s ideas. 

To observe this in real life, take a look at novelist Toni Morrison s chart (see Chapter 16). She doesn t have every one of the characteristics listed above. Then again, no one does. But her Mercury is conjunct her Midheaven Venus, the ruler of her Ascendant, is in the ninth house of publication conjunct Saturn two planets are in the third house (with one more knocking at the gate) and Neptune, the planet of the imagination, is located in the fifth house of creativity. By becoming a writer, she fulfilled the potential of her chart. 

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