Mercury rotates from west to east. That means the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West, as it does on Earth. Mercury's orbit is very fast and its rotation is very slow. This combination means the time between sunrises is much longer on Mercury than on Earth. It takes 176 Earth days to make one Mercurian day. If you were anywhere on the planet, you would face the sun for 88 Earth days, and face away from the Sun for another 88 Earth days. Mercury has the longest day of any planet in the solar system. Because Mercury's orbit is extremely elliptical, the Sun appears to shrink and grow in the sky during its long day.
