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Description of Venus
Venus is the second planet in the solar system and closest to Earth planet, it is the only planet named after a female goddess- the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus was named the most beautiful because it combines the beauty of the five planets that were known to the ancient astronomers. However, in the Christian eras, Lucifer, or “light-bringer,” became known as the name of Satan before his fall from heaven. Different observations of the Venus planet in space show that it has a very hellish environment which does not support the survival of living things. This is one of the reasons why it is difficult to observe this planet closely, however, because of this, spacecraft does not survive long on its surface.
Venus contains no living things because it is the hottest in the solar system, however, it is the nearest planet to earth and similar to Earth in terms of size, weight, density, composition and mass, hence it is termed Earth twin. The diameter of Venus is 12,104km.
Venus surface
Venus has an extremely dry surface and it is hidden under dense cloud which contain sulphuric acid. Unlike the Earth that clouds are made of water, Venus clouds contain carbon dioxide. There appears to be a thick atmosphere and a gas called carbon dioxide surrounding it surface, this carbon dioxide traps heat from the sun on the surface of the planet. This process is known as greenhouse effect, a green house on earth is designed to trap heat, warm the earth and to help plants growth. The thick atmosphere makes it difficult for astronomers here on earth to view the surface of the planet using telescopes. Venus planet also possesses a number of surface features just like Earth based on observation. Scientist recorded that two-thirds of the Venusian surface is covered by flat, smooth plains that are damaged by thousands of volcanoes and that some arestill active today. These range from about 0.5 to 150 miles (0.8 to 240 kilometers) wide with lava flows carving long, winding canals up to more than 3,000 miles (5,000 km) in length, longer than on any other planet.
According to scientists, these were formed when hot material beneath the crust rises up, warping the planet’s surface.
Six mountainous regions make up about one-third of the Venusian surface. One mountain range, called Maxwell, is about 540 miles (870 km) long and reaches up to some 7 miles (11.3 km) high, making it the highest feature on the planet.
Naturally, the sun is never visible from its surface; its average distance from the sun is 108,208,930km which 0.723 times that of Earth, there is little difference of light between day and night.
Venus temperature
Venus planet can get as hot as 9000F (4800C)), hot enough to melt lead this is because it has a thick atmosphere. Records shows that scientists who have landed there only survived few hoursbefore being destroyed by the heat
Venus atmosphere
Venus atmosphere is made up of dry clouds and a little trace amount of water as detected by scientists; the rain that falls here is usually acid rain. The Venus atmosphere is heavier than that of any other planet, which makes it surface pressure 90 times heavier than that of Earth. The sun rises twice and sets twice on the sky of Venus. Based on the picture taken by American spacecraft, Venus is therefore an extremely dry planet with mountains, valleys and volcanoes on the surface. During Venus evolution, ultraviolet rays from the sun dry up water quickly, keeping it in a long molten state. There is no liquid water on its surface today because the scorching heat created by its ozone-filled atmosphere would cause any to boil away immediately.
Venus Moon (Satellite)
Venus does not have any natural satellite just like Mercury and Pluto and it does not have a ring system. Even though Venus planet has no satellite of its own, it was often thought to be two different stars (the evening star and the morning star) in the ancient times; hence, they were respectively known as Vesper and Lucifer in Latin. This is because it glows in the sky like a star which makes us assumed it to be a star.
Venus orbital period and rotation
Venus takes 225 days to revolve round the sun; this shows that days on Venus are longer than years; it rotates on its axis in a very slow manner. On Earth, the sun rises and sets once each day, but on Venus, it rises every 117 Earth days. What it means is that the sun rises two times during each year on Venus, even though it is still the same day on Venus.
Venus rotates the opposite direction on its axis different from the way most planets rotate. For instance, on Venus planet, the sun would appear to rise in the west and set in the east while on Earth, the sunrises in the east and set in the west.
- The time it takes Venus to rotate its axis is about 243 Earth-days, this is by far slower than any other planet. However, its metal core cannot generate a magnetic field similar to Earth’s because of its sluggish spin. It average distance from the sun is 67,237,910 miles (108,208,930 km).
- It closest distance from the sun (Perihelion) is 66,782,000 miles (107,476,000 km). if you compare, it is 0.730 times that of Earth
- It farthest distance from sun (Aphelion) is 67,693,000 miles (108,942,000 km). If you compared is 0.716 times that of Earth.
Facts about Venus
- Venus is the second planet from the sun and the hottest planet in the solar system.
- Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
- Venus is sometimes also referred to as Earths twin planet or Earths sister planet.
- Venus was believed to be a star in the ancient times because it glows in the sky like a star, this prompted many to refer to it as a star.
- Venus is similar in size and composition to Earth. It has mountains and volcanoes. Earth is just a little bit bigger.
- It is an extremely dry climate covered by clouds which contain sulphuric acid
- Venus extremely hot and does not support the existence of living things, the surface is surrounded by mountains, valleys and volcanoes.
- Venus is termed the hottest planet in the solar system; this is because it is covered by a thick cloud composed of carbon dioxide and other gases which stops the heat from the sun from escaping back into our outer space.
- Venus has no moons Satellite and ring system.
- On the surface, Venus temperature is about 9000 F (4650 C), hot enough to melt lead.