{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"United Kingdom News Beep | NewsBeep.com","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk","author_name":"NEWSBEEP","author_url":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/author\/newsbeep\/","title":"Every textbook says Venus is Earth&#8217;s nearest planetary neighbour, but a simulation run over thousands of years of orbital data found that Mercury holds that title on average \u2014 because it never strays as far as Venus does on the far side of its orbit","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"BXFnkeQ7lV\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/731060\/\">Every textbook says Venus is Earth&#8217;s nearest planetary neighbour, but a simulation run over thousands of years of orbital data found that Mercury holds that title on average \u2014 because it never strays as far as Venus does on the far side of its orbit<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/731060\/embed\/#?secret=BXFnkeQ7lV\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Every textbook says Venus is Earth&#8217;s nearest planetary neighbour, but a simulation run over thousands of years of orbital data found that Mercury holds that title on average \u2014 because it never strays as far as Venus does on the far side of its orbit&#8221; &#8212; United Kingdom News Beep | NewsBeep.com\" data-secret=\"BXFnkeQ7lV\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mercury-messenger-pia15051-768x771.jpg","thumbnail_width":600,"thumbnail_height":602}