Venus
Overview
Venus, the second planet from the Sun and our Earth’s closest planetary neighbor, gets its name from the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
Venus may appear to be a twin of the Earth when we compare their sizes and masses. However, both the worlds are just opposite. One is very hospitable to life and capable of harboring vast variety of life, while the other one remains barren with hellish environment.
The surface temperature of Venus reaches 900° Fahrenheit; hot enough to melt lead. On top of the hot surface, remains a very thick atmosphere consisting of (mostly, one of the greenhouse gases) carbon dioxide (97%) and nitrogen (3%). It has a toxic environment with sulfuric acid clouds shrouding the atmosphere.
You may watch our Youtube video here about the greenhouse gas warning from Venus.
Interesting Facts
Moon: Venus does not have any moon, nor does it have any ring system.
Atmosphere: Venus has a very thick atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid clouds. The atmospheric pressure on the surface of the Venus is 92 times that of the atmospheric pressure on Earth’s surface at sea level.
Size: The size of Venus is much like our Earth, as you can see in the picture below. The radius of Venus is 6052 km (95% of earth’s radius), and its mass is 82% of Earth‘s mass.
Orbit: Venus’ orbit around the Sun is almost circular. It orbits the Sun at a distance of about 108 million kilometers. Sunlight takes about 6 minutes to reach the Venus from the Sun.
Day and Year: Venusian day is longer than its year. While it takes 243 earth days to rotate on its axis, it orbits the Sun in 225 days. It should be pointed out that it rotates extremely slowly in a backward direction. More on this in a moment.
Surface temperature: The surface temperature on Venus reaches 900° Fahrenheit; hot enough to melt lead. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, hotter than even Mercury which is the closest to the Sun. It is interesting to know that we can bake a pizza in just 2 seconds on the surface of Venus (heard from Neil D Tyson on Star Talk) because of the super-hot surface with high atmospheric pressure.
Retrograde Rotation
Venus rotates in the backward direction (east to west) unlike other planets’ rotations which are west to east, except for Uranus which rotates on its side. On Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east because of the retrograde (backward) rotation. An explanation for this backward rotation is not certain. According to one of the theories, a planet-sized object hit Venus billions of years ago, and that impact flipped its axis of rotation.
Phases of Venus
Like our Earth’s moon, Venus too has phases. If you can watch Venus through binoculars or telescope over several months, you will be able to see the phases of Venus. Galileo observed the phases of Venus through his telescope in the seventeenth century. That discovery provided another scientific proof for the Copernican heliocentric nature of our solar system.
Sources:
- The Cambridge Guide to the Solar System by Kenneth R. Lang, Cambridge University Press.