-
Venus more nearly resembles the Earth in size, physical composition
and density than any other known planet.
-
Venus was named after the goddess of love and beauty. People believe
this is because Venus is the brightest star in the sky. It is sometimes
called the Morning Star, or the Evening Star.
-
It is the hottest planet in our solar system, with temperatures reaching
900 degrees, hot enough to melt lead. It is hotter than Mercury, even though
it is twice as far from the sun.
-
When visible, it is the brightest object in the sky, after the sun and
the moon.
-
Its atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, covered with quickly moving
clouds made of a yellowish poisonous substance, sulfuric acid.
-
Below the sulfuric acid clouds is a thick atmosphere of carbon monoxide.
-
The carbon dioxide atmosphere acts like a thermal blanket, trapping
the radiation and heat from the sun and not letting it escape. It is similar
to the Greenhouse Effect on Earth, but much worse!
-
Even though it is usually the closest planet to Earth, we cannot see
much surface detail because of the dense cloud cover. We do know there
are at least two major active volcanic areas.
-
NASA's Magellan spacecraft used a special radar to reveal Venus's surface during four years in orbit from 1990 to 1994. Volcanic lava flows, quake faults and other features on the surface were seen for the first time.
-
Venus spins from east to west (clockwise) which is backwards when compared to the other
planets. Early on, when the planets were forming, Venus may have been hit
by a massive object that reversed its spin. This means that on Venus the
Sun rises in the west and sets in the east!
-
Because Venus rotates slowly in the opposite direction that it circles
the Sun, one day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days. It takes Venus 224 Earth
days to orbit the Sun. That means that Venus's day is longer than its year!
-
Russia landed two unmanned spacecrafts, but they collapsed because of
the extremely high air pressure, equal to about 300 feet below sea level
on Earth.
-
Venus has a mountain range, called Aphrodite Terra, which is higher
than Mt. Everest.
|
