The planet whose surface looks most like the Moon is Mercury. Mercury's surface is heavily cratered and resembles the Moon's, featuring extensive mare-like plains, numerous impact craters, bright ray systems, and geological structures such as scarps (cliffs), ridges, and valleys. It has been geologically inactive for billions of years, much like the Moon, and its surface displays similar craters and basins formed by ancient impacts.
Key similarities include:
- Both have heavily cratered surfaces with large impact basins.
- Presence of bright ray craters formed by ejected material.
- Geological inactivity leading to a surface shaped primarily by impact events.
- Scarps on Mercury formed by the planet's cooling and shrinking crust add additional texture distinct from the Moon but still consistent with a heavily cratered rocky body.
Thus, Mercury is the planet most visually and geologically similar to the Moon in terms of surface appearance.
