Humans know less about Venus than most planets in the inner solar system, owing to the planet’s particular barriers to exploration.In our solar system, Venus is the second planet from the Sun and, after the Sun and Moon, the third brightest object in the Earth’s sky. Because of the similarity in size and mass Venus is frequently referred to as Earth’s sister planet.Venus is also the closest planet to Earth, but because of the heat, acidity, and clouded Venusian surface, Venus hasn’t seen a lot of investigation in recent decades. Though it has the same size, mass, density, and gravity, and a chemical composition relatively close to Earth’s, with its high surface temperature, crushing pressure, and poisonous atmosphere, Venus is considerably different from Earth in numerous other aspects.Because of their similar size and structure, Venus is often referred to as Earth’s twin. Yet, it has severe surface temperatures and a dense, poisonous atmosphere because of its similar size and structure. Earth and Venus would be roughly the size of a nickel if the Sun were the height of a conventional front door.Venus is unique since it is the only planet that rotates in the opposite direction of Earth and other planets, and it turns at a snail’s pace. The planet is slightly smaller than Earth and has an interior that is similar to Earth’s. Thick clouds obscure the venus crust, so we can’t see it from Earth. Studies so far revealed that the planet’s surface is littered with craters, volcanoes, mountains, and vast lava plains.Did you know Venus is the only known planet in the Solar System without any notable moons? A characteristic shared only with Mercury out of all the planets. That means the count of Venus moons is zero.In the end, Venus looks like a thinning crescent as it prepares to pass between Earth and the Sun. A small, nearly full silvery disc appears on the far side of the Sun, at a distance of 136 million miles (219 million kilometers) from Earth.Don’t forget to enjoy our other exciting articles, including facts about Jupiter and facts about Cuba.Does Venus have an atmosphere?The Venusian atmosphere is the gaseous layer that surrounds the planet. It is mainly made up of carbon dioxide, and it is significantly denser and hotter than Earth. The pressure and temperature on the surface of Venus are about the same as the pressure found 3,000 feet (900 meters) underwater on Earth. The atmosphere in Venus supports opaque clouds of sulfuric acid. This eventually makes optical observations of Venus’s surface from Earth quite difficult. Radar imaging has been used exclusively to collect information about the terrain. Nitrogen is the other major component, in addition to carbon dioxide. Other chemical substances are only found in trace quantities.The atmosphere is in a condition of extreme circulation, except for the very top levels. A phenomenon known as super-rotation occurs in the upper troposphere. The atmosphere rounds the globe in four Earth days. The winds that support super-rotation are pretty strong. Earth’s fastest winds are about 10-20% of the rotational speed, whereas it is known that winds on Venus can reach 60 times the planet’s rotational speed. On the other side, as the height from the surface drops, the wind speed increases slower and slower until there is barely any breeze on the planet’s surface.Polar vortices are anticyclonic structures found near the poles. Each vortex has two eyes, and a distinct cloud pattern in the shape of an S. The troposphere and the thermosphere are separated by an intermediary layer called the mesosphere. The thermosphere has substantial circulation, but it is different: gases heated are partly ionized by solar energy and move to the darker hemisphere, where they recombine.Venus, unlike Earth, does not have any magnetic field. The ionosphere protects the deep atmosphere from the solar wind and outer space. This is the induced magnetosphere of Venus. The solar wind continuously blows away other gases, such as water vapor, through the generated magnetotail. The solar magnetic field is blocked by this ionized layer, which gives Venus a unique magnetic environment.You can see Venus every day during sunset and sunrise, and hence it is also known as the morning star and the evening star.How did Venus get its atmosphere?Until roughly 4 billion years ago, Venus’ atmosphere was thought to be similar to Earth’s atmosphere, and it is believed liquid water was present on the surface. The evaporation of surface water and subsequent rise in other greenhouse gases may have generated a greenhouse effect. The exact date of this departure from Earthlike conditions is unknown. However, it is thought to have occurred roughly 4 billion years ago. The evaporation of surface water and the subsequent rise in greenhouse gas levels may have triggered the greenhouse effect. As a result, people studying climate change on Earth have paid close attention to Venus’s atmosphere.There are no geologic features on the globe that indicate the presence of water in the last billion years. However, Venus was an exception to the processes that built Earth and provided it with water during its early history, possibly from its initial materials or subsequent comets. According to most research scientists, water would have existed on the surface for roughly 600 million years before evaporating. However, some believe it may have existed for up to 2 billion years. General circulation model simulations adding the thermal impacts of cloud tops on evolving Venusian clouds & hydrosphere support this more extended period for ocean persistence.Did you know? According to ancient civilizations, Venus was a Roman goddess, and ancient astronomers named one of the five planets known to them then.Venus Climate And WeatherMost scientists believe the early Earth had a Venus-like atmosphere during the Hadean eon, with about 100 bar of CO2 and a 446 F (230 C) surface temperature. Its surface is thought to be 500 million years old. Possibly even sulfuric acid cloud tops with some air pressure, until about 4.0 billion years ago, when plate tectonics took over and, along with the early water oceans, removed the CO2 and sulfur from the atmosphere. As a result, like Earth’s oceans, early Venus would have had water oceans, but any plate tectonics would have halted when Venus lost its oceans. Thus little evidence of plate tectonics would be expected.Unlike Earth’s lower atmosphere, the upper atmosphere of Venus has been recommended as a location for both exploration and settlement. Despite the extreme circumstances on the surface, the temperature and atmospheric pressure at ADD 65 km above the planet’s surface are virtually identical to those on Earth, making the planet’s atmosphere the most Earthlike region in the Solar System, even more so than Mars’ surface.What would it be like to be walking over the surface of Venus (hypothetically)?Walking over the surface of Venus, according to Costa, would feel like walking through a pool of water. The pressure would be the same as being 3,000 ft (914 m) below sea level. Walking around on Venus would be a horrible experience. Venus’s surface is parched due to the planet’s out-of-control greenhouse gas effect. You could jump a little higher, and goods would feel slightly lighter than they would on Earth because Venus’ gravity is almost 91% that of Earth’s.Venus Temperature Venus is the known hottest planet, with very high temperatures, in the solar system. Even though Venus is not the closest planet to the Sun, its atmosphere traps heat in a greenhouse effect that warms Earth. As a result, the surface of the planet Venus reaches temperatures of 880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius), hot enough to melt lead. Spacecraft worked for only a few hours after arriving on the planet before being destroyed.The atmosphere of Venus is hellish, consisting primarily of carbon dioxide with sulfuric acid clouds and just minimal amounts of water and scorching temperatures. Venus has a comparatively thicker atmosphere than any other known planet in the solar system due to its proximity to the Sun.Surprisingly, according to models developed by experts at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and other planetary science studies, Venus may have been habitable early in its history.The surface of Venus is exceedingly arid. Solar heating in the form of UV rays from the Sun evaporated water swiftly during its evolution, keeping the planet in a molten state for a long time. Because the blistering heat caused by its ozone-filled atmosphere would make water boil away instantly, there is no liquid water on its surface today.Thousands of volcanoes span almost two-thirds of the Venusian surface, ranging in size from about 0.5-150 mi (0.8 -240 km) wide, with lava flows carving long, curving canals.Six mountainous regions make up about one-third of the Venusian surface features named Ishtar Terra, and Aphrodite Terra are other highland regions.The ancient moniker for Venus, Lucifer, seems apt given the planet’s dire circumstances. The name Lucifer, on the other hand, has no satanic connotations; it means light-bringer, and Venus shines brighter in the night sky than any other planet or star when seen from Earth because of its highly reflective clouds and proximity to our planet.The time Venus rotates on its axis is 243 Earth days, which is the slowest orbit period of all main terrestrial planets. Venus has a magnetic field that is 0.000015 times stronger than Earth’s. Its metal core can’t generate a magnetic field equivalent to Earth’s due to its slow rotation.When viewed from above, Venus rotates on its axis in the opposite direction as the other planets. As a result of the rotation of this particular planet, the Sun appears to rise in the west and set in the east on Venus.In the Venusian year, the time for Venus to complete one venus orbit around the Sun is approximately 225 Earth days. On Earth, this would typically indicate that days on Venus are longer than years. However, the duration between one sunrise and the next is only around 117 Earth days due to Venus’ strange retrograde rotation. Venus transited in front of the Sun for the last time in 2012, and the next time Venus transits will be in 2117.According to photographs taken by the Soviet Venera spacecraft on Venus, the color of the sky is orange. Because of dense planet’s clouds, Venus absorbs less sunlight while being considerably closer to the Sun than Earth. However, sufficient sunshine reaches the lower atmosphere and the venus surface. Venus receives around 1.9 times more sunlight than Earth due to its greater proximity to the Sun, but only about 20% of the light reaches the surface due to the thick atmosphere. This part of total solar energy is absorbed and re-radiated as infrared.The Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashed into Venus on March 1, 1966, making it the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet. The probe ran for a record-breaking 127 minutes on the planet’s hostile surface. However, the Magellan spacecraft that orbited Venus gathered much-known information.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for facts about Jupiter, then why not look at facts about Earth or facts about Saturn?
Humans know less about Venus than most planets in the inner solar system, owing to the planet’s particular barriers to exploration.
